More on Portraits

Just finished this one.

I changed from my red head obsession and shifted to blonde.

This is my first free-hand portrait.

The others I have been using a tracing to overlay to check that eyes, ears, noses are all in the right place.

But this one, I just started.  I have been reading that the old draw an oval routine is really not the right way to start a face.  If you do that, the features all get squished in and really aren't proportionally correct.  The much easier way is to start with a line for the eyes and one that extends down the nose.  You then can build from those two lines.

Now, my problem with this is that the noses get way too long and I end up shortening, and shortening again.

In the end I'm not sure all proportions are totally correct.

This painting is  4x4.

I believe that with wax (encaustic) that really working larger is much easier.  There really is no "fine" work with wax that I have stumbled upon yet.  No little tiny brushes to put in fine lines.. by the time the fine brush moves from hot palette to painting, the wax has lost its heat and isn't very fluid anymore.

So this size painting doesn't have the opportunity to be very refined... at least not in my studio.

But what I am finding is that I like the style - this less refined style.

I changed my palette too - yellow ochre, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, black and titanium white.

We'll see where this goes.

How about you?  What discoveries are you making with your work?