charlotte

Acrylic on canvas board, 16" x 12".

this is my fourth acrylic, again with the secondary (hexachrome) palette (described on 19 january).

this painting almost did itself, starting with the mouth, nostrils and eyes, then the facial modeling, then the background and clothing, and finally the hair. it's not quite finished but i am going to let it sit for a few days and sink in.

the drawing was transferred by ruling the support in sixths, height and width, then building the outline freehand in charcoal. i find that the division in sixths is the best overall framework for medium sized (up to full sheet) formats; it also supports a variety of diagonal lines, from one grid corner to another, that are handy for locating detail features.

however the graphite grid was difficult to erase and i had to scrape off several visible lines when the portrait was half finished. i've since switched to watercolor pencil for the grid; the charcoal underdrawing adds a bit of black along the edges that helps define color areas.

the only premixed colors here are the basic hair color and the sweater green. everything else is done in separate layers of pure paint. this gives the painting a very strong color vibrancy, especially in the face, which has an almost iridescent weaving of magenta, green, yellow, scarlet and blue tints, muted here and there by white or black. the eyes are far too bright. i wanted the face to have the decorative coloring of a viennese pastry or ripe tropical fruit.

the quality i admire in women of this age is the excitement they express as they embark on their adult life, with adventure in their eyes and confidence in their talents and beliefs.