I deleted the first post on this one and worked some more on the painitng. My husband does not humor me which is a good thing on these portraits. I would rather hear it from him than worry that the volunteers are not happy. There is also someone at the art center who is brutally honest. I guess in this field you better be prepared to listen to a second opinion.
11" x 14" oil on mdf
Even Sargent got complaints...you're in good company. I do like the slight diagonal through his shoulder line in this one, though; and the gaze is interesting too.
ReplyDeletePutting a shadow blending into part of the face is a way to avoid trying to match the other side of the face. Besides being hard to do perfect symmetry is boring. Thanks for commenting. Lyndon Johnson had his first official portrait done by Peter Hurd, but upon the portrait's completion, LBJ simply called it, “the ugliest thing I ever saw” and Lady Bird Johnson criticized it for not fully encapsulating her husband’s “gnarled, hardworking” hands. When Johnson rejected it, Hurd donated the portrait to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Johnson did not like Norman Rockwell's portrait either.
DeleteSeriously, making LBJ look handsome would be Mission Impossible! Even Lady Bird was hinting his face wasn't his best feature.
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