So I stopped worrying about getting a likeness and just painted the damn thing.
My sister actually looks more like her here than I do. I look vaguely familiar as someone else. (I keep thinking I look like Greeta, but I haven’t seen her in so long, I don’t really know! Where are they I wonder?) I realized my feature proportions are off. But this was a good experience. Since my reference photo was so tiny and blurry, I really had to study the shapes. It’s a little overworked but I like the way my sister is painted.
But I realized what I liked about that photo was the composition —the way we’re pressed together in the corner of the frame. (Sort of like my sister is trying to push me out of the frame!) So I sketched it out again, not really worrying about likeness.
And quickly transferred it to watercolor paper and started painting it today, really just concentrating on how I’m painting it & not so much about likeness.
I’ll just call it Two Sisters (no relation to Chekhov’s Three Sisters...)
You DO look vaguely familiar in that first one... but more like someone from movies or television than someone we know. I agree about the composition. Adding the space to the left feels better. And you look incredible in the last one.. it's a good painting and it looks like you. Best yet!
ReplyDeleteGo go go! The first one is nice, but the second one has that sense of spontaneity in the brushwork that really makes it.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be in different eras, your sister in the 30s and you in the 50s.
ReplyDeleteWell we’re 10 years apart, so technically we do belong to different eras. However I can see your point. I think it’s the hairstyles.
DeleteThe "extra" space is a great element in the composition. Glad you decided to use it in the second painting. You captured the unique expressions that you both have. Looking forward to seeing the new version.
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