John W. Portrait nearing completion

I took another pass at this portrait two Sundays ago, brightening up the blues in the lower background and repainting the areas around the eyes, cheeks, and forehead. On my to do list to finish up: getting the colour right in the nose and ear; cleaning up the edges of the T-Shirt, strengthening the frames of the glasses, and softening edges in various places.

John W. Portrait

Here's a portrait in progress of my friend, John Willard, quiltmaker, in Burlington. John posed patiently for me on his back porch in June of last year while I tried (and failed) both plein air and painting live from a model at the same time.

I've included a series of images which end with the photo I decided to use as a reference. There's still much to be done, including adjustments to the mouth, ears, nose, etc...

March 3 update... Here I'm trying out some darker colours but miss the brighter, lighter blues I once had  in the background. Yet, the colour from the photo is being badly influenced by my red studio walls. The proof: immediately below is the painting taken again at the other end of my home studio.

March 1 update with a different pallette that includes Venetian Red.

Early stage with an attempt to warm up the figure, July 22, 2012

Dry brush drawing, early July 2012 

The original reference photo, June 2012