First ever portrait

[Pauline]

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[Pauline]

This is my first attempt at ever doing a portrait.
A 90x90cm pallete knife attempt.
I was hoping to capture the wonder in his eyes.

[JJWilliamson]

Oh, you've certainly done that, Pauline.

What a size it must be, with the head filling the canvas. Tremendous, I'd say.

I'd have to see the original pic' to tell if the eyes, nose and mouth are correctly aligned, but it's still a great painting.
I'd expect the lines to converge rather than diverge. But, the angle isn't very oblique so the convergence would be slight.
You have a significant divergence, which suits expressionism very nicely, and that's why I'm hesitant over commenting.
It's a feeling based on my own studies, so any further thoughts would be most welcome.

It's very expressionistic. Google expressionistic portraiture and you'll see what I mean.

This has such life and vibrancy. Really eye-catching portrait.

Best

JJ

[Pauline]

Oh, you've certainly done that, Pauline.

Yay. Cheers JJ.
90x90 cm is a fabulous size canvas.
Large enough to make an impact but not too large to house.
Pretty much most of my paintings are this size.

I'd have to see the original pic' to tell if the eyes, nose and mouth are correctly aligned,

I aint showing you. I have added at least 5 years onto the boy.
It was never about an accurate portrait but capturing an emotion.
I'd like to think I did this.

I'd expect the lines to converge rather than diverge. But, the angle isn't very oblique so the convergence would be slight.
You have a significant divergence, which suits expressionism very nicely, and that's why I'm hesitant over commenting.

See. This is where I am totally confused. I understand what converge and diverge means ( with the help of google) but not when it comes to painting.
Told you I was a complete novice.

This has such life and vibrancy. Really eye-catching portrait.

Whoooo! Cheers JJ. I'm encouraged by your comments.
Portraiture is an avenue I never thought to venture.
I may just saunter on down and see where I end up.
Thank you so much for the positive feedback.

[JJWilliamson]

Oh, you've certainly done that, Pauline.

Yay. Cheers JJ.
90x90 cm is a fabulous size canvas.
Large enough to make an impact but not too large to house.
Pretty much most of my paintings are this size.

I'd have to see the original pic' to tell if the eyes, nose and mouth are correctly aligned,

I aint showing you. I have added at least 5 years onto the boy.
It was never about an accurate portrait but capturing an emotion. ...You did that very well; brilliantly, in fact.
I'd like to think I did this.

I'd expect the lines to converge rather than diverge. But, the angle isn't very oblique so the convergence would be slight.
You have a significant divergence, which suits expressionism very nicely, and that's why I'm hesitant over commenting.

See. This is where I am totally confused. I understand what converge and diverge means ( with the help of google) but not when it comes to painting.
Told you I was a complete novice. ...Join the club

When painting an oblique portrait, If you draw an imaginary line through the centre of the pupils and extend it, then do the same following the bottom line of the nose, and again following the line that separates the lips, the three lines will either converge to a single vanishing point, diverge to a broad spread or remain parallel. Yours diverge where I would've expected them to converge slightly. But, the oblique nature of your painting is only slight, so there's room for debate, and that's why I hesitated.

Here's a link to show you what I mean. In nearly every case the lines of alignment converge. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=photo ... 66&bih=605

I often have a problem with the far side of an oblique portrait, with the pic looking a bit flat. An American artist pal took some measurements for me and told me it was my nose that was out of kilter. So, I moved the nose and everything fell into place. The thing is, I was ****ing convinced it was the eyes that were wrong. No, it was the nose.

This has such life and vibrancy. Really eye-catching portrait.

Whoooo! Cheers JJ. I'm encouraged by your comments.
Portraiture is an avenue I never thought to venture. ...You have a natural talent, I'd say. That's great knife work.
I may just saunter on down and see where I end up.
Thank you so much for the positive feedback.

Hope this helps

Best

JJ