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Saving Face. This was the theme for a few weeks. In so many ways. First… the masking of forgetfulness or ignorance in some social situations. Just kept quiet to save face. Second…a root canal and meds to save my face. Third…not showing inferior paintings. And, fourth…my struggle during the portrait painting process to rescue paintings. Saving the face.

Typically I get a good start on a portrait. However, after every break there are inevitable changes in the pose, which not only affect the drawing but also the shadows.  So I adjust. I constantly reassess my painting in relation to the model.  Sometimes I lose the placement or shape of the facial features.  Sometimes I don’t even notice problems until very late in the process.  Then I struggle to fix a major flaw in the structure, gesture, or features.  Sometimes I wipe parts out and redo. Racing for time. When the bell rings I’m done. Sometimes I come away with a painting I am proud to claim. 

Here are some images as I painted Michelle.  This was about a two hour pose, which is rather short. I did something I rarely do.  I attempted to rescue the painting at home without the model or a photo. 

This was an inferior painting that I would never show. I sanded it down and covered it with a mid value color. Another form of masking. I hoped that Michelle would be an improvement. 

I drew and blocked in the darks. Then I worked on the shadow side. It was a bit confusing at first, but not too difficult. Pleased with the painting at this point.

My struggle with the eyes began here. It continued throughout the process. Michelle has very characteristic eyes and I was determined to capture them.  This may be the stage where I had the most likeness. Sloppy and unfinished.  But time was up.

I cleaned it up at home. This is not a good practice, but I had nothing to lose and was hoping to find Michelle. At this point I had an okay looking painting…but it was not Michelle. I lost her.

I reviewed Image 3. and attempted to recapture the likeness.  It’s okay.  Not sure if I saved the face.

Post Script…Things are looking up. Today I painted Jess for about four hours of actual painting time. You can see by the progress photos that things went smoothly. It happens. I posted this to save face.

When to expose. I suppose, there have been conversations on this topic. But I have not ever engaged in one. If you are an artist, please weigh in. Consider this a conversation starter. If you are not an artist, consider yourself privy to an inside discourse. As a person, your thoughts on vulnerability may provide insight.

Sharing one’s art is inherent to being a full functioning artist. I think. Otherwise, the creator of private work would probably consider himself an introvert, an intern, or an inadvertent artist.  A private painter or writer does not put her work on a blog, Facebook, or Instagram.

My thoughts are about those artists who do share. Public painters. I scroll through Facebook and Instagram a couple of times each day. In both cases, my feed is largely populated with art related posts. In addition to art group discussions and museum art, there are posts by artists of their own work. 

I notice various posting patterns of artists.  Some post what they produce each day. The image may be work on the easel, process images, or a small daily piece. Others post recent work that shows their best skills, or tells a story, or tests the waters of a new subject or style, or serves as a segue to an exhibit announcement. It is about maintaining a relationship with viewers and collectors.

On occasion an artist will post a painting to friends and followers on Instagram or Facebook and announce his dissatisfaction with the work. Sometimes I suspect false modesty.  When an artist is genuinely disappointed in the painting, I see no reason to show the piece unless there’s a stated request, lesson, or narrative. Your thoughts please…may I impose?