EASEL OF Tara Williamson
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Abbi on October 8, 2018 at 3:02 pm
Tara, this has a lovely moodiness to it, and I’m really enjoying the way you blurred the edges of her draped top into the background. It elevates the image, in my opinion. The blue color sets of her skin tone really nicely, and I like the reflections of blue that we see under her chin and even a little at her temple.
The eye on the left (her right eye) seems a little too big or too bright to me (it’s hard to see with the glare on the canvas), but I wonder if dulling the white of the eye just a touch would help it blend better into its surroundings. I think you may have a little distortion from your reference image; the eye may be a touch large, also.
I’m in love with the loose strands of hair we see off the dark side of the neck. Really nicely done. This is my favorite of the three you’ve posted.
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Benjaminjay on September 7, 2018 at 8:12 pm
These are looking pretty good Tara! great use of reflected color from the cloth, one thing that I noticed is the hair feels like it’s very stiff and close to the head in some spots making her skull and jaw feel very large, maybe blur some of the edges into the background a little more to draw focus away and perhaps a few more stray hairs in some spots like the highlights at the top which look very nice.
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Tara on October 9, 2018 at 6:31 pm
Thank you so much for the critique. You gave me some great suggestions. I agree I had some issues with the jaw on this one because of the angle. I really loved this pose but it was challenging for me.
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Abbi on October 8, 2018 at 3:09 pm
I love the softness you acheived with the mouth and nose. The hair at the crown of the head is quite nice also. In my opinion they are the best parts of this painting.
However, there is an extreme feeling of distortion created by how wide that shadow is from cheek to hair on the left side. I would guess you may have taken a reference photo that caused this effect. Even if it’s “correct” to the photo or even to life, I think it could be improved by slimming down the neck, or perhaps adding more volume to the hair on top of the head in order to compensate. Or maybe you could play with darkening the left side of your image and losing the detail on that side completely.
The way you captured the red reflection on her cheek and chin is really great.
The high-contrast area in her hair near the shoulder is drawing my eye in a way I find distracting from the face. I think it’s because you seem to have used a dry brush effect that didn’t allow the highlights to integrate much with the base colors. I personally would soften that out a bit to help bring my attention back to her face.
Personally, I also think her face would look better if you were to desaturate and gray out the background a little more. It has a pretty strong green/brown that’s not jiving well with the purity of her skin and that beautiful strong red. Just my opinion. Hope it’s helpful, and feel free to disagree, of course! It’s all in your objectives.
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Tara on October 9, 2018 at 6:41 pm
Thank you so much Abbi! Agree with the all of you comments, especially the background color.
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Tara Williamson
Georgia artist working in oils.
I am open to critique
I WOULD LIKE HELP WITH
Looking for ways to improve my oil painting.
Tara, I really like your style and the colors you choose. This is lovely; I can’t get enough of that intense teal. I wonder if playing with some more lost edges would add an element that would lift this piece even higher; for instance, I’d like to see the blue blur into the brown at the bottom right corner, to help direct attention back up to her face.
I think there is also a stylistic contrast between the bold, almost outlined drapery, and the soft rendering of the face with no outlines. It’s a stylistic choice which one you prefer, but they do seem a bit at odds to me. Personally I love that bold semi-outline on the drape, but that’s just me!
All in all, beautiful piece!
Thank you, Abbi, for your critiques. I am glad that you enjoy this piece. I agree with you about the lost edges. I have to make myself soften edges up, I can paint to tight sometimes.
I have a lot of trouble losing edges, especially since I paint in acrylic. It’s not very easy to blend because it dries so quickly.
I love the fabric in this piece so much; it’s vibrant and yet not cartoonish. I’m enjoying staring at it. 🙂