[Lunatique]

My first post somehow merged with someone els's self portrait post. Weird techinical glitch.

Anyway, here's the post again:

I don't know what my problem is. I keep trying to paint that alla prima look, and I keep failing. I'm way too uptight. I would start out with these nice loose brush work, but after a while, the damn thing just keeps getting tighter and tighter. I wish I could stop rendering things to death.

Garrrrhhhh!!!!!

[LoTekK]

"I wish I could stop rendering things to death."

y'know, it's when people say stuff like that that i know i have a loooooong way to go... i hear what you're saying about wanting a looser feel, but looking beyond that, this is a truly gorgeous piece... the colors, the perceived light, and that hair! oh, that hair! gorgeous rendering...
just curious, was this from a photoref, or imagination, or from life? either way, gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous...

[Lunatique]

LoTekK- it's definitely from reference. I don't think it's possible to paint stuff like this without reference.

I don't even like using reference this closely personaly, but I'm doing these exercises to help me attain that alla prima look. This is my third attempt, and I'm still too uptight.

If I had a choice, I'd much rather paint from life instead of a static picture reference, but I really don't like painting from life on the computer. It' so not fun compared to doing it traditionally.

[Lolion]

*Shlafh*
*Spluff*

Argh! My jaw just rolled in under my desk!
Demmit! It'll take forever to reach it!

[Daijoobu]

This is freakin amazing. I must say that your "POS" look slightly better than my best efforts.. :P
I understand that your mission is to achieve a looser look but what you've done instead is most certainly not something to be ashamed of. Is this done using the palette knife? The same way you did the "nude on bed"-picture or different? A tutorial of some kind would be most appreciated!

[Molako_Plus]

its very hard to break away from a style which you have chiseled over your years of experience.

the only thing i can suggest is set yurself some kind of time limits. maybe this way you wont spend that much time on the detail, but instead you might put more thought into the gestures.

im not sure what that prima-whatever look is, but im guessing you spend too much time on your pieces...

[BlackPool]

I can tell you from personal experience, if you want to change your style a little, aim for an aproach that's more drastic than what you really want. Also you might try changing your aproach. But either way what it comes down to is getting your subcontious to understand a new idea of what "finished" is. I hope I helped a little.

[Lunatique]

Daijoobu- this one was done with the opaque round brush. The method I used was identical to the tutorial I did for Nude1.

Molako_Plus- I limit myself to finish these pieces in one day. This one, and the palette knife painting were all done within a day. Maybe I need to limit that to half a day?

BlackPool- Beer and painting with left hand!

[Lunatique]

Messybrain pointed out that I never seem to thank people who gives me praises, and I realized he's right.

The reason I usually respond more to critiques is probably because I'm really hard on myself, and I'm never truly happy with the finished result, and when people praise me, I feel even more embarrassed about the glaring mistakes/weak points in the posted piece. But when someone points out mistakes and offers suggestions, I immediately react and take their suggestions into account and go back to fix the mistakes. Also, I have a hard time coming up with answers to one word/sentence praises. I don't know how to respond other than "thanks," but keep typing "thanks" over and over makes me feel kinda silly.

I need to be more aware that. People who take the time to say nice things are definitely appreciated. I didn't mean to ignore you guys. Sorry.

[TheRealT]

I'd say it's more like you render things to LIFE, not death.... wow. Realizmo!
Hahaha and if that's a self portrait please call me!


[ May 22, 2002: Message edited by: TheRealT ]