portraits
by wayne batchelor
(canberra)
I am oldish retiree and took up painting 3 yrs ago. I am self taught which is quite evident when you see my paintings. I was getting articles from you and wanted to unsubscribe from email. On speaking to Jill she was so friendly and she has 'rekindled' my interest.
I have got to a stage where I really need some good constructive advice...and especially getting correct tones in my portrait paintings. If I can be so bold I shall upload some paintings and if any constructive advice can be given I would really appreciate it. And also continuing on with your newsletter.
001...was taken off newspaper article about 3 x 3" and painted on canvas 4' x 2' in acrylic
002.. taken off internet and my first attempt at oils
003.. is a self portrait in acrylic.
004.. is my second go in oils taken off internet...these paintings I have done are for my own personal use so there won't be any publishing or sales issues..Hopefully I shall hear from you and these images have been uploaded...cheers
Wayne
Note from Jill: Wayne, that's great that you want to be part of our little online community and it's also quite courageous that you are sharing your artwork with us all.
As I understand it, you are looking for some constructive criticism, so, all you readers out there, could you please lend a hand and share some of your painting tips with Wayne? Just click on the comments section, below, to get started.
Perhaps I could get the ball rolling by making an observation about copying from photos. It is really difficult to get a sense of form when you work from photos and so the result is often 'flat'.
I would encourage you to work from live models, if your friends and family don't mind too much - even set yourself up in a cafe and sketch people around you, using charcoal or soft pencils for a quick result.
Your self-portrait is my favourite of the four - was that done from a photo or from your mirror?
Who else would like to help Wayne? Perhaps we could start a (gentle) critique forum where anyone could send in their work for suggestions. What do you think?