I like this one for detail, especially in the glasses and the eye, but I like the Oils best for overall feeling and colour.

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Member of :- *britain #DAPensioners - #BurnRadio.
In vino veritas, nunc est bibendum. - In wine is truth, now we must drink.

this one has a very long way to go, i currently feel the same as you about them

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Although the oils version is coming along nicely, it shouldn't be compared to this piece since here you have taken off in an entirely new direction here. I respectfully disagree that this has a long way to go, acrylics have the tendency to look very overworked early on.

Your loose treatment of the surface planes here has a look of being distinctly light and spontaneous. Personally, I would leave it and move on to the next one like it. Good painting doesn't require a ton of paint, just an ounce of recognition by the artist that the work is complete when it is!

Take a look at Raats [link] work, he is a professional whose work is in the collections of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas et al. In each of his works he stops just at the right place.

I wouldn't touch this one again with a brush except to sign it. Beautiful piece by the way, and exceptionally painted. Very, very, very professional looking.

*speechless but full of gratitude*

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OK, I dig this one way better than the oils. this has far more energy than the other piece (to me).

I know the pieces are not in any competition, but I get a better feel for this interpretation

kudos2U!!

Thanks.
It's a lot more contemporary I think, and more lucid.
This was, until today, the start of an attempt at a nice fresh realistic-looking piece.
I know the oils is kind of messy, it was actually a nice palette-knife quite abstract piece, until I over-tweaked it, and I think the things that go a bit wrong, stay a bit wrong perhaps, even if they turn out okay. I am also aware that the style of the oil version is very dated, its just something in me, that I wanted to try it. Quite self-indulgent, and quite good fun!

I am still itching to do more to this version, but have promised myself I wont.

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Oh I love the lines around his eyes! They really make this painting for me

And you're so good at painting big lips!

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He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart. And in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us. By the awful grace of God.

Bobby Kennedy quoting Aeschylus.

Looking at it several more times since, indeed this does (did) have the potential to be an extremely realistic piece all the way through. The real art in this is not only in the illusion of a substituted reality, but in the translucency, the coming together of form through deft brush handling and the overlaying of colors for sophisticated shading effects. Since there is such a nicely balanced combination of surface treatments, the work vibrates with an energy that more than makes up for a finished look; in fact, one that would indeed be lost were the piece finished as originally planned. It reminds me of so many Dutch and Italian masters who centuries ago left some of their best works in various stages of completion both as an aesthetic and as evidence of the drawing that went into their art . The thinly applied and flattened tonal background dynamically adds to the look by counterbalancing the overall tone and further emphasizing volume in the head. It is a great way to go with this approach as there is no need for anything else in the framework that would in fact only distract from an already very fine image. I really love this piece, and think it is your very best work to date. Of course, I am biased as to the style being extremely contemporary while painted so expressionistically. Your next piece, which I assume you will complete, will most certainly demonstrate how far you can take this new approach as to style and finish. Cheers.

I am just so honoured and lifted by the attention and praise you have lavished on this one Denis. Thank you so much.
It also serves as reinforcement of what Bryon suggested when I confessed to the way my initial acrylic sketches that get covered in layer after layer of paint are frequently much nicer than the finished product...we agreed that I should do two versions of everything and leave one of each at the 1st layer stage!
Finn himself has responded very positively to it, said he would like a hi-res jpeg of it, and that he will put some cd's in the post for me - so the whole project has been hugely rewarding and satisfying.

The background was, of course, due to your previous good advice, and I'm sure that other elements benefitted from your ongoing influence and guidance, for which I will always be hugely grateful, even if I can be somewhat recalcitrant on first hearing it!

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thanks very much...I have a lot of love for big lips!

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