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Real quick before I talk about what I learned from these 2 faces, I want to ask you to please consider taking part in the DPW Every Mother Counts fundraiser! There is a very interesting story behind why we are doing this now, and it involves one of the most popular blogs in the world! So if you're an artist, this is a great way to get your art seen AND donate to a very good cause. Read more on the DPW blog.
Now, I did the bottom face first, but am happier with the one above. The light was quite harsh in the one below, and a lot of the detail was washed out/lost in the light area. Plus, after doing the one above, I found that a child's face looks much more ... childlike, when the edges are softer - duh! I was really playing around with color on the one above - maybe too much - but it was fun and I love how the eyes turned out. I am coming to realize the eyes are the most important part of these little paintings.
true, the below one looks more like a young teenage girl, but i still like it! you're amazing!
ReplyDeletesydsense.blogspot.com
I have been an ardent follower of your blog since a few months. And I JUST HAD to comment on this one.This painting is Truly amazing to say the very least, as are many of your others !! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, LOVE that! Both - but especially the top one. More silliness, more sparkle.
ReplyDeleteThey're both a lot of fun Carol, but the top one is gorgeous. LOVE all the wonderful color, and the edges make it!
ReplyDeleteCarol, already donated via DPW auction. Great cause!
ReplyDeleteLoved these AND thanks for sharing the soft edge knowledge in children's faces. Awesome job!!!
This painting is truly AMAZING to say the very least, as are so many of your others !! :)
ReplyDeleteCool, two for one... great lesson!
ReplyDeleteBoth are very impressive. You are really in the groove!
ReplyDeleteGood job, I also love the one above. She looks very cute!
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ReplyDeleteBUT I would cross the room to look at the bottom one: better shapes and value mix.
ReplyDeleteThese are both fun and just gorgeous brushwork. Having painted some Georgia Bulldog big ole' tongues lately I can truly admire these:) Tongues are hard to paint well and these are great. Good info on the soft edges. Can just picture you painting those big eyes in the top one. Wonderfully good!
ReplyDeleteBoth are wonderful but I think the top is my favorite. I am glad you didn't consider giving up painting faces, you are very good at it. I am loving these faces painted in your style, so fun and painterly. I remember seeing the portrait you did of your daughter on Dr. Phil, so wonderful. I guess that was lost in the fire? How tragic. Keep em coming, we're loving it.
ReplyDeleteWow!!! you made a huge leap from the last "portrait"!!!! These are absolutely wonderful and it looks like you have been at it for months already. Aside from the bottom one looking older than her years, there is something about the angle and the contrast that really appeals to me but I also love the subtle color shifts in the top one. Both are great! Aren't you glad you have followed your heart?
ReplyDeleteI love these faces you are doing! They are making me smile at a time where it is really hard to smile.
ReplyDeletethat tongue!! yes, you made me laugh!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE them! Love, love, love, love, love them! Especially the top one. I like that it's a closer view of her face. :))) And I think the color is perfect.
ReplyDeleteMisguided my arse.
What a great exercise to study the face…musculature, shapes, and values with unusual contortions…you really have to see a face in the abstract! I also think this series is a strong comment on the influence of mobile pics...preserving the fleeting moments of our lives. When photography came out, it influenced painting dramatically. Now that we have the immediacy of digital photography, we are entering a new painting revolution! These seem to be a statement on those small treasures of everyday. Thank you for sharing your great work!
ReplyDeleteCarol! Love, love, LOVE the funny faces! This last one is SOOO full of life ... your loose brushstrokes and use of color are beautiful (as usual!) I applaud you for venturing into new territory; I can see you progressing in leaps and bounds already, and this is only the fourth one you've posted ... BRAVA!
ReplyDeleteAmazing... I like both of them though I agree, the second one rings truer.
ReplyDeleteLove this one! Beautiful skin tones. The contrast between the cool and warm areas is beautiful. This one is my favorite so far.
ReplyDeleteCarol!! THANK you!! OOOh, so fun! I do agree that the top one came out better, but hey you improve fast! And that photo of Audrey was a challenge I'm sure! (Yes everyone reading - that's my daughter in the second!) (Carol, is it for sale???)
ReplyDeletewhat caught my eye on the top one was the wonderful use of color in it...in my humble opinion, absolutely no too much.....
ReplyDeleteI'm loving these faces. I'm going to have to send you one also. You have great instincts. This is going to be a good series! The top one especially is full of joy.
ReplyDeleteCathy
Love both of them :) You are awesome !
ReplyDeleteHey Carol... I am loving your silly faces... in this time of such craziness.... it is good to be SILLY!
ReplyDeleteI can see them quite large, sort of a la Jenny Saville...
I also have two thoughts:
1) I installed a public art sculpture one time... it was a 6 ft tall bronze totem with a spiral on the front, and lots of earth textures and it was finished in a blue/lavender color. It was about being part of the earth, but being spirit. People came from all over as they saw us installing it and LOVED it! I was so excited to get such positive reinforcement... then when we were almost done...
This one old guy came up and practically spit on the thing he detested it so much... it was a visceral reaction... and it really took me by surprise. He literally spit out the name "spirit totem" as he left.
As I drove home I started crying... I was so upset by his comment I couldn't stop thinking about it, plus I was EXHAUSTED from the big push to finish the piece and get it installed... and then I realized that I was focusing on this one and ONLY negative comment... what about the many, many people that LOVED it...
I guess that's just artists... but really I think you did exactly the right thing as you mulled it all day (and I'm so sad that the comment upset your day) and then figured out why you're doing what you're doing... none of us owes any one an explanation as long as we're following our hearts... and look how many folks love the faces!
2) I also just wanted to mention, as one who has dealt with this as well, that you may be dealing with PTSD as a result of the fire and the sudden move... PTSD upsets our adrenal gland and other hormone functioning, causes anxiety, emotional highs and lows, inability to focus, teary times, etc etc... It is real, but it will also pass with time... just something perhaps to keep in mind in the next months... to be easy on yourself... glad you have that hot tub! I actually bought a small one to deal with my adrenal exhaustion after a full year of maximum stress.
Iron, zinc and selenium can help with adrenal and hormone functioning... just an fyi. B12 and Vit D too.
Best to you! I think you are doing absolutely fantastically btw... and I love your paintings... all of them!
Maybe you can put a silly face in a cherry or apple sometime to shake up the viewers.... ;)
HOLA, ME GUSTAN CUADROS MÁS MODELO.
ReplyDeleteUN SALUDO DESDE ESPAÑA.
http://gizurdemedibuix.blogspot.com
http://gizurdemefloc.blogspot.com
Who can tell someone their choice for a painting is misguided? It's so preposterous. Luckily you're robust enough to realize it don't mean nuttin'. The departure meanwhile to silly faces could not be more relevant to your path right now, they are stunning. Keep on, keeping on! Painting with gusto...You da woman!
ReplyDeleteCarol, great job and you are dead right when you say the bottom one looks like an older child due to the harsher edges, guess I shouldn't be surprised you worked that out. I have always preferred portraits and so will hopefully be learning from what you do in the future.
ReplyDeleteKarl S
Loving your silly faces! With your distinctive bruswork, you're fortunate to be able to branch off in any direction you want and still have your work identifiable. Never let the naysayers get you down, continue following your gut.
ReplyDeleteBoth paintings are great, but, I do love the top painting too, those wonderful reflected lights, the color of the face is beautiful. And the expression is truly delightful.
ReplyDeleteAh Kerol!
ReplyDeleteOur lacks - it is continuation of our advantages. That strong susceptibility which allows to do to you magic pictures, she turns around against you at the critic.
Does you vulnerable.
In what direction you wouldn't go - it always it will be talented and beautiful!
I have given the reference to your blog to familiar artists and one of them has told: I would like to draw as Kerol! I join))
P.S.Не Publish my response)) Possibly transfer awful))
Ксения Москва.
These are great! The top one is really appealing -- but the bottom one has some really strong "drawing" also.
ReplyDeleteDrawing wise, what you are doing is really hard -- making the extreme elasticity of the face seem 3 dimensional and "hang " on an underlying structure, while maintaining appeal and lively brushwork -- wow!
If only you could collect all these instead of selling them and put them together in a show a la Kevin Macpherson's "Reflections on a Pond" or the series Rose Frantzen did of people of her town. You could call yours "Silly Town" or "Reflections on some Goofs" ? Maybe a book: "Silly Face-Book"?
pretty cool! I like them!
ReplyDeleteThis just proves that when you're good, you're good.
ReplyDeleteAs usual the brushstrokes make the painting.
You GO girl.
You are so brave. I like your risk taking...it is fitting at this time, I believe. Thank you for always sharing so honestly with us, your anonymous fanclub!! To honour your bravery, I faced my demon and painted outside....,no studio, no music,no control...I think it was the happiest and most fufilled I have felt in ages. Thank you for the initiation of the conversation about trting different things and doing it no matter whether others deem it a success or a failure.
ReplyDeleteMan, you must have a helluva stash of karma credits right now!
jennie