Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
To paint or not to paint
Welcome to the forum.
Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.
Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.
Message
Posted
Whenever I paint a portrait, there's always a quandary about the background. I usually opt for what I see or make something simple up, even if it's a simple graduated tone.
This work (Jannina Ramirez) is just an exercise using gouache and the background in the photo is fairly blurred. How would any of you out there tackle this?
Edited
by Frank Bingley
Posted
Entirely differently to you Frank, ha ha, so I'd love to put forward some ideas but they'd work for me but not for you.
I think that using gouache wouldn't work with my method, which would be in oils and I'd put in the basic shapes, no details, and then start the background, laying dark against light and vversa. I'd also " cut into" the portrait here and there and " cut into" the background so that it wouldn't look as tho' the head was superimposed. I don't think you could use gouache that way, it might disturb the layers. Maybe you can, with care.
The one thing which both of us, using different media, could do, is echo the colours of the portrait in the background, the reds and the blues etc. Perhaps just suggest the background. Hope to see what you decide.
Edited
by Marjorie Firth
Posted
Looking good Frank. You've caught the sunlit aspect of the portrait really well, so maybe Linda's idea of somewhere hot would suit. Anything rather than the background in the photo. (When I do something like this the background ends up as an abstracty hotchpotch of colour...at least the nearest I ever get to abstract.)