More doodling and practice

I want another pose to play with reflections.  For me it starts out with a stock photo and my sketch pad....basic doodling with shapes, shadows and light. The reality is, it might be easier for me to do this in paint but I  kinda like doodling, even though it can be aimless, frequently it forms into a real idea. The standard of this is the business lunch napkin.......those of you who have experienced it, know!

 MY STARTING POINT

 dwg 6

dwg 8

dwg 10

dwg 11

dwg 11a

dwg 12
Enough doodling, not going anywhere - I need to get back to it!

DIRECTION CHANGE

 dwg 13
(I had two failed oil attempts on this one - total wipe outs!)

INTERESTING 19TH CENTURY ARTIST

 

 Arthur Hacker - Pelagia and Philammo c.1887 - Accidentally came across it while searching for the info on the image below.

My actual drawing reference - hard to resist not making a drawing of it.

 Dwg 14 - added head wreath

 886 Silk Velvet 20x20 oil on linen (2-2-14)

I liked the drawing so much I decided to use it as my main reference. My choice of a different head didn't cause as much difficulty as my arm arrangement did. I like the suggestion of a hand receding in the background  - clearly it's no improvement on Hacker's original pose nor was it meant to be - I needed a body to go with the head and arms I really wanted to paint....its also where I needed practice.  All-in-all the painting has promise.....a good stepping stone.

The painting still needs some quick moves - even if I loose it!

 MODIFIED

 886 Silk Velvet 20x20 oil on linen (2-3-14) - final!

It feels better even if it's not. The neck and hair line needed interruption creating interest and flow...plus I darkened some highlights to more shadows.

The more detailed I get, the more difficult it is to keep it fresh....especially the face. Partly due to the small format and wrong brushes - I used larger brushes than required so refined detail can suffer.

Later...