This was painted from a photo I took from an iPhone, I think the first picture I ever took from one. I was sitting on the bed in a hotel room and the wall sconce was just behind me.
That camera is a wonder, I was stunned, as can be seen. This is what I learned from this painting: paint the entire eye socket flat in the darkest body tone and lay the shapes of the lids, iris, whites,etc. into the dark shadow paint. Because I had to contend with those damn glasses, and because the glasses come last, by the time I got to painting them I could see I had misplaced one or the other eye slightly and so I had to wipe and repaint. I painted lots of eyes...and the best ones were laid in over the dark tone. The ones I painted piece by piece were not as integrated into the paint. I have known this about painting over the dark for the eye socket, but I was not completely sold on it. Now I'm a believer and will never never backslide.
Wow, I love this painting! It's a great expression and the eyes are terrific. The reflection in your glasses of the iPhone screen really hits it. And that sounds like good advice. I'll give it a try next time I'm doing eyes.
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