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It's been a while, yet it felt very natural. I never considered myself a portrait artist, but it has always been an interest of mine. After all, my family (especially my grandfather) is very fond of portraiture.
Portrait painting to me is a whole beast on its own. There is nothing richer in color nuances and overtones than human flesh. The way it absorbs and reflects light is just... an absolute delight to paint. Not to mention the challenge of capturing the essence and character of the actual person. One could spend a whole lifetime doing this and still it would not be enough!
I was very pleased to notice how different my approach to painting portraits is now. When I said in an earlier post that now I am a slower painter, I was just partially kidding. I am slower because I break down the subject in more layers now, trying to achieve more depth. And I am very satisfied with this first try.
There are a couple of things I noticed I should work on in the near future, though:
- I do need to regain some agility. I used to be much more secure and bold with my strokes.
- Classical, gradually colored portraits are good and all, but I also need to work on life subjects and one sitting portraits (this is a long term objective, since I am very rusty).
- I love to do the half finished clothes/background thing, but at some point I will purposely paint a portrait with a more defined background and figure.
In the meantime, I am going to start drawing and painting more subjects from life and take it from there. Now that I think about it, when I first came to America, I considered a career in portraiture. Well, I guess we'll see what happens!
I hope you like the painting.