Too Pretty to Paint?

The Perfection Challenge

Ah the caramel skin, perfect and luminous to go with a beautiful face .Why is it so hard to capture a likeness?

In our art group we have a variety of models – from young to old and from thick to thin --we wouldn’t have it any other way. So when we had the opportunity to paint a beautiful young lady from France we welcomed it. My art group consists of a variety of artists and mediums. I love oil paint but our materials are vast from Acrylics to Conte to Pen and Ink with Watercolor.

What I have noticed though, is that my experienced art group struggles when painting young beautiful models. Why is it easier to paint imperfect than the beautifully perfect? With beautiful models it is difficult to get a likeness. I don’t have an answer as to why. Is it because the measurements need to be more exact or that we all strive to capture that perfection? I have at least 3 failed paintings from when models were young and beautiful, paintings which I stopped painting due to frustration in not capturing a likeness. Conversely some of my favorite paintings are those which capture the heavy, or the wrinkled…This painting of perfection is the closest I have come to capturing the lovely French model.

I have to admit that I like this painting but knowing the model, I know I’m still missing a little something. 

12x16, oil

Model Favorites

Effortless: One of MY Favorite Models

In this painting you will note the same colors, same fabrics as Gypsy Girl but this pose is a bit more dynamic.

In Effortless, the model is wearing a gauzy white dress, gazing directly at the viewer, an arm flung above her head. This model is a favorite of mine - she is gorgeous and Sargent would have loved her.She has pale luminous skin and dark jet hair and she knows how to strike a pose.

Typically, I love to do a Portrait (head shot) of her because her features are unbelievable. Her profile is muse-worthy and yet I loved her languid pose,so I turned my canvas to get the full length in composition.

I didn't want to worry the painting overmuch, so I worked on the draping and the facial features but didn't get out the teeny brushes to define the tiny hands and feet.

Effortless 12x16

The Making of Gypsy Girl

 Paint From Life!

"Paint From Life" is perhaps THE phrase that I hear most often from my art teachers. Painting from life is particularly helpful when painting figures. Photographs don’t quite capture the lights and shadows that are so relevant to painting. Additionally, photographed colors are often washed out – whiter and lighter than actuality. That being said, I have learned that reference photos are particularly helpful. I always take a photo of the setup, a close-up of the figure’s face and close up of the hands (if applicable). I find that I often cannot finish a painting in a 3 hour life painting session (despite working on a relatively small 11x14 or 12x16 canvas). The ultimate lesson is to get down what you can in your initial painting session with live model, focusing on composition and color.

For Gypsy Girl, I painted most of the composition in the 3 hour Life session. I placed the head, arms, dress layers, couch and background colors. My main focus was getting the shapes in place. And, I managed to get many of the colors (darks and mid tones) down.

Once home, I used my reference photos (on the computer) and started adding my lights and darks. I also put the up-close face photo reference on my computer and used that to complete (with small brushes) the face—including that nose shadow. Next, I worked on the skirt layer definition, adding lights and darks to get the draped folds. Lastly I added highlights to the top of the arms and to the white blouse (not pure white, a lightened Naples Yellow). Even this photo of the painting (because it is a photo) seems a bit washed out -the colors in the photo as in life are a bit brighter...

Our model this day was a fellow artist’s daughter, who is in high school. She seemed so grown up that I thought she was in college. She had dark eyebrows and light green eyes with dark hair – really wonderful. Of course her costume was lots of colors and layers, very fun to paint!

Gypsy Girl, 12x16, oil on canvas.