the 4 year project - post two.

Here's the second post for the boys double portrait. I wanted to tackle the faces first to set the palette for the rest of the painting. I found it a little challenging keying the darks jsut right with no other frame of tonal reference in the rest of the painting, so obviously will go back at some point to refine and add a richer dark here or there.   I think the lips and particualry the eye colors are very much fist pass.... more soon.

I had a plan to paint this is a very distinctive style that would have required very different brush work from what you see here. All ready I'm deviating from the plan... oh well.

 

Thought I should add these detail images below, to give a better feel for the work on the faces. Lots of refining still to come, hopefully, that giddy balance of just the right amount of work, but stopping before it becomes overworked. This was about 3.5 hours work.

 detail.

 My eldest needs a little work on his nose and perhaps mouth.

  detail.

My youngest here really needs his mouth and cheeks fixed a little.