Nice! African americans are usually my favorite lifedrawing models when it comes to painting; usually because there's so much color in their skin (you can get extremely saturated and explore different greens and reds) and their facial features are usually pretty prominent and sharp under a strong light, which creates nice shadows.

No racism intended in this statement.

this would probably apply to people with rich skin colors and prominent facial features of any particular race,
and probably not so much to african americans with pale skin and small features, etc.

thanks

my sincerest condolences

I agree. Interesting faces make for interesting paintings.

This gorgeous, a definite good likeness of her.
I love her eyes in this portrait. Very intense.

thanks :)

I wish so much I could see this real painting with my own eyes.

DUDE COME VISIT

KAY
Actually I am going to this summer. :)

Dude, wow, holy crap. I'm starting to see a painting trend going on, and it's blowing me away. I should practice more, and post even my bad stuff.

i would say that she has particularly intense eyes, if you've seen them.

excellent style, perspective and of course technique.

Wow, this is incredible :) I like all of the texture in this :3
Okay I can't stop smiling at it, so I'm going to fave and then continue happily eyeballing this :D

Yay! so glad you like it :)

Awesome portrait of you Ebby!

I know :) I'm quite pleased.

Would you kindly describe your approach to over-collage? I'm intersted in using a simmilar approach for an upcoming college assignment and I would seriously appreciate a few pointers. I dig the finishing.

all that means is that i painted on top (or "over") a collage of stuff that i pasted down first.

i look through magazines, use postcards, whatever, etc. to find stuff with patterns or textures that i like,
and then affix them to the working surface. i slather the whole thing with matte medium, just to seal it
down. and then when it's dry, i paint and draw onto that.

This is something I've been experimenting with for the last few paintings as a way to make the
surfaces richer, rather than just starting with a flat blank "canvas" surface. As you can see, most of the
collage is obscured by the painting, but some of it hints here and there and shows through. That's it :)

Give it a try! if you collage down something meaningful to the subject matter, that can add some extra
oomph to the image.

I knew who it was from the thumbnail.
The texture is so amazing.

it looks just like her ! !!!! :D recognized her face before I even read the word "Sheryn" underneath the thumbnail !

well, i dunno about that, but i certainly am willing to try :)

mmmmaybe that's what matters, i dunno.

we can have a Two Guys Painting day :D you're local! let's do it! i'll show what i know, if it helps.

I'd really love to watch you paint. You gonna make it to Anthrocon by any chance? It wouldn't be easy for me to make it all the way up to Boston.

This is beautiful .

thank you

I think I love most that you did this over a collage. Ive never seen a portarit done with that style. Ive seen stuff under paint before, but its never complimented something so lifelike, in a way that almost speaks of the subject through its aliveness. Its like the thoughts in her brain are movin around just beneath the surface!

thanks :) yeah that is kinda cool how that works, comes across as an added psychological dimension, yay for layer effects!

That is really great!... I suppose you could have a subliminal theme in all of your paintings with that style.

Very nicely done, i admit i love the style!

Amazing! As is all your work!

thank you

So I'm not going to bother favouriting this because at this point I'm convinced I'm going to favourite all of your submissions. ;p

Also, how do you get such control with guache? I hate the stuff, it always ends up smearing, or corrupting neighbouring colour...

i often, while working with gouache, will "save" my work by spraying it lightly with fixative/hairspray/etc. i also, don't
work as wet as the image progresses, which minimizes unintended color interaction.

That's a good idea, I'll check it out, thanks :)