What She Saw

What She Saw

11 x 14 inches

acrylic on gessoed masonite

my reference photos

I painted this portrait of Frank with the idea of doing a portrait, but I also wanted to show him in “his” place where he “fits”. I luv doing portraits with a little “value added”, that tell the viewer something about the portrait subject.

I started out with a lovely snap shot I'd taken a “few” years ago. (Hence the title.....I took the photo....so it's “What She Saw”) I painted him in just a couple of sessions. I used some OPEN acrylics that stay wet longer and allowed for some great blending.

 

But what to do with the background?

 I tried changing the shirt color in Photoshop......nope, nope, nope! None of these helped. Then I decided to instead change the background. I found a pic I'd taken of one of our barns and surrounding greenery. I painted in the background around the portrait of Frank.....and that led to me settling on a dark blue for his shirt. 

I like the way his hair and face coloring stood out from the surrounding busy background......it emphasized HIM, which is after all what a portrait is supposed to do!