Portrait of My Oldest Daughter
32My oldest daughter, oil on paper. My kids were the subjects of my second ever painting, and it was one where really struggled to capture good likenesses. That's made me a bit hesitant to try again - was it just the act of painting children that's especially difficult? Or perhaps I'm so familiar with their features I was too demanding of myself to get it exactly right? I've also been focusing mostly on subjects that could be sold as prints, which isn't something I want to do with portraits of my kids. But they were both so often subjects of my pencil drawings, so I decided the time was right to try them again.
I did this one of my oldest first, which had a rough start but ended up in a better state at the end. I'm especially pleased with how the mouth and teeth turned out, because open mouths can be somewhat difficult for me. Overall, I think the likeness is mostly on point. Someone did point out that her big smile doesn't quite reach her eyes, which is a great observation actually. This girl is such a bright ray of sunshine, bouncing around laughing all the time. She often seems to radiate enthusiastic, bouncing energy in person, and I'm not entirely sure that comes across in this painting.
Of course everyone can look tired or sad, but when she smiles like that, it usually lights up her whole face. I was trying to paint what I saw from a photo, but I think maybe there was a skill or technique limitation here. Regardless, hopefully I can capture the overall sense of her more accurately next time.
π»For more artwork by Jon Amdall, check out Amdall Gallery at https://jonamdall.com/
Colors Used:
β¬οΈ Raw Umber (Gamblin 1980)
β¬οΈ Titanium White (Utrecht Studio)
π¨ Yellow Ochre (Gamblin 1980)
π₯ Cadmium Red Hue (Utrecht Studio)
π₯ Alizarin Crimson (Utrecht Studio)
π§ Blush (Gamblin 1980)
π« Burnt Umber (Utrecht Studio)
π« Burnt Sienna (Utrecht Studio)
π¦ Ultramarine Blue (Utrecht Studio)
π¨ Blick Oil Paints: https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-100750047-14333547?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dickblick.com%2Fcategories%2Fpainting%2Foil%2Fpaint-sets%2F
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