In this painting I used the big bristle brush for the first 3/4 of it. It won't let me get specific and forces me to address the masses, which is not my inclination. I remember once looking at a painting of Freud's and there was this febrile pink line under the eyeball, which was the top plane of the lower eyelid. It was so beautiful, so unexpected and true. Instantly brought me to my knees - how to paint that, how to get it down. I'm in love with those details of the face, the portrait, and I always want to get right to those parts of the painting. However, now I know this must not be done until the end, so the big brush is a help. Just in the last few months I have been able to use an array of brushes depending on what was being painted, saving the brush with 3 hairs in it for the pink lid, should I have one.
Jean, love this. I've been having a great time following all your posts for awhile now and watching your portraits get better and better. Keep them coming. I'm learning great stuff from you. I started a daily sketch practice on my FB page and by the third day my sketch was miles apart from the first one. Thanks to your inspiration of loosening up by practicing.
ReplyDeleteK. Donatelli