The time has finally come….The Portrait is complete!!!

I’ve included a high resolution image of it.  It gives a chance to see some detail.  Just click here to see the portrait painting up close.

Please click here to return to the home page of Jeffrey Smith Art

Family Portrait, oil on linen, by Jeffrey Smith

Please click here to return to the home page of Jeffrey Smith Art

As the portrait starts to wrap up, I’ve shifted focus onto the surrounding elements.  Over the last few days I’ve spent a considerable amount of time working on the sunflowers and on the exterior landscape.

Please click here to return to the home page of Jeffrey Smith Art

Things are coming together, and taking shape.  I’ve recently starting using medium.  This is an additive to improve the quality of the paint surface.  Dry paint can be very difficult to move around the surface of the canvas.  Adding medium to the paint helps it blend and flow.

Please click here to return to the home page of Jeffrey Smith Art

I’ve been hard at work in the studio the last few days.  Today I decided to change up what I was working on; today was all about the legs.  It started simple enough. I hadn’t put any effort into the table leg, so I worked on that….and then I just kept going. Before I knew it, the entire lower half of the painting had been repainted.

Repainting is a subjective term at this point of the painting.  The amount of paint being applied is very little, so it goes on quite thin.  This allows some of what’s underneath to show through.  That’s really what finishing a painting is all about: small adjustments that make a big difference. 

Please click here to return to home page for Jeffrey Smtih Art

It’s good to be back online! Work has continued on the portrait, though  I haven’t been updating the blog nearly as often as I should.

The image above is from earlier today.  I finished a great painting session and snapped a picture. It’s strange how the paint reacts when a photo is taken….

I had the opportunity to have one of my old teachers and mentors over to my studio to look at the portrait last week. It was great to hear what she had to say, and it has been a wonderful challenge trying to implement everything she suggested.

Please click here to return to my homepage, jeffrey smith art

Please click here to return to home page for Jeffrey Smtih Art

Work has continued on the portrait.  I’ve tried to balance the desire to focus on the faces of the subject with the need to keep the painting moving forward as one whole piece.  The environment is starting to come together which is always an exciting part of the process.

I’ve spent a lot of time look at the supporting elements of this painting and their placement.  Most of these things can go anywhere. How do you decide?  You have to stop and look at the painting as a viewer and say to yourself, “Where is my eye stopping and lingering?  Where is my eye getting stuck? And what is my eye missing?” As the painting’s creator, I can control the placement of anything on the canvas.  It is always amazing how a tree branch here, or a sunflower there, can make a world of difference in the path that your eye takes through a picture.  With a portrait, a view will always look to the faces first, and that’s usually what you want. But it’s nice if you can give them an interesting and beautiful place to live as well.

The series of corrections continues.

Please click here to return to the home page of JeffreySmithArt.com