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MBoulad — Fresh Air
Published: 2006-11-27 06:16:18 +0000 UTC; Views: 1576; Favourites: 24; Downloads: 0
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Description
I painted this portrait as a gift, and to substitute for the one I had such a hard time with and posted a couple of months ago. I worked for months on that, agonised and lost sleep over it, and still was ultimately very disappointed with my work.This one, on the other hand, took me less than a week, it was such a pleasure to paint! The difference was amazing, and I'm so happy with the finished work this time
Thanks to all who offered advice to wait and try again, it really did help, and it really did work!
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Comments: 70
omg this is amazing .... i cant find words to describe its amazingness...
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this is really gorgeous. it's natural beauty, simplicity, spontaneity...
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Thank you so much for your comment on this...it didn't draw a huge amount of attention, but it's one of my favourites. It's of my oldest daughter, so it's hard NOT to love it!
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It is beautiful, and I like the light: so brilliant and positive and a bit surreal.
It is good
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Aw, thanks...painting this was a wonderful experience, I loved how it flowed. Thank you for such a nice comment
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Thanks for mentioning the title...to me it describes the both the painting and the experience of making it
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You're most welcome . . . it also describes your gallery . . . it's like a breath of Fresh Air itself!!! Wonderful work you have there!
I was going to comment and fav all of them, but I didn't want to overwhelm you in one sitting 
Yeah I know what you mean . . . some paintings just seem to flow better than others
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Aw, thanks, what a nice comment
I felt the same about your gallery, your work is beautiful and unique. It will be interesting to see what you come up with in the future, you have a varied imagination and interests that make your gallery a real pleasure to look through!
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Aww thanks 
I had mixed emotions about putting everything under one roof (so to speak) but didn't want to hassle with seperate accounts - for photos and art, so I just decided to put all sorts of things in one gallery and make sub-menus on my main page. Hope it's not too much of a pain to browse through.
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It's nice the way they've set up the new DA, when you go to someone's gallery you can choose to view things submitted under specific catagories (click the 'catagories' button top left of the gallery page, then say photography, or digital art) I really like that feature
No, it wasn't a pain to look through at all
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Yeah that does make it nice . . . thanks for take'n the time to have a look around mine
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Wow, thats beautiful! I love how you paint skin, its realistic but still has a wonderful painty feel to it. I seriously cant believe you did this in a week, the hair is amazing and my favorite butterfly is that big green moth. Stunning.
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Thank you
I love luna moths too, he's my favourite of these as well
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Love the details - especially her hair. 
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Thanks...thank goodness for digital, easier to make long clean brushstrokes when you can take it down to 25% size or smaller
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The hair and the details on the butterflies are beautiful.
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It often helps to wait and go back to a project later... My silly teachers don't seem to know that, and when they do it seems to be when I am most inspired in a project!
I love the expression on her face... As well teachers often don't understand that a straight on 'I'm looking at you" shot isn't always best for portraits
My only real crit here is the cloth- though I understand putting too much detail would take away, maybe a little more detail in the foreground would make it better?
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Yep, I let this simmer for awhile before I actually attempted another go. I guess teachers are trying to fit the work into their schedule, rather than when it's convenient for the student, which isn't always the best way to get inspired, but I guess it prepares you for working for someone else
Thanks for your C&C! I prefer portraits that aren't staring directly at the viewer, too. I especially hate those Walmart studio type shots and posed home pics, they just seem SO UNNATURAL, argh!
This is funny, I had more detail in the drapery at one point but wanted to keep it a bit abstract, so TOOK OUT some details
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I don't understand why some people teach if they don't even like the children and they can't teach how they'd like to... Ah well, that's a whole nother debate, I suppose you don't really want to get into that.
Ew... Walmart studio picture. It's okay with small babies (like... a few months old) because they have GORGEOUS eyes and innocence and people are attracted to that, but really it's not going to get someone's attention. "Just another portrait".
That is funny o_0 I guess just a difference in taste. I say even if you just define the wrinkles a little more.
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Lovely colors
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I'm glad you recognise some of them, I've seen some in butterfly gardens before too, esp the blue morpho I think it's called...there are a couple here I just made up though (the orange and white and the one top left of the figure for instance) I think my fav here is the luna moth, they're SO cool
Thanks, I had a splendid time with this
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Yes! Blue morphos! I loved them, they were absolutely everywhere in the greenhouse I went it. Beautiful
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yeah, Blue morpho's are amazing in real life, their wings look metallic when they flying
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Her nose is particularly good - and I adore those butterflies!! 
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Thanks hon
Noses are my particular cross to bear in portrait painting, I'm really glad you commented on that part. I struggle with getting the shape just so
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This is really imaginative, with the added butterflies.
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Hi Tasha...yeah, when I compare to the photo ref I'm a bit tempted to go back and fix a few issues of proportion...BUT, I really wanted this to feel more spontaneous, not so overworked as some of my previous portrait attempts. I tend to get so tied down in the details that I wreck the over all painting...trying to avoid that this time
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Thank you!
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This one is just fantastic Michelle. You can tell you had fun with the looseness and freedom to use your imagination. I love the colors and the butterflies and her expression and the movement to her hair. She must just love it. This is what a portrait should be. Definitely.
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Sandi thanks! I'm so happy with this, especially after being so upset about my work on the last portrait. I wanted it perfect TOO much, I think and that was what wrecked it the first time around; this time I had so much fun...I think because I didn't work it into the ground again
Thanks for the fav and comment on this 
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I think it was more than just not trying too hard. The whole look to it is freer and looser, less binding in it's mood and more fun. Let me see if I can explain what I'm thinking. The format is less binding in that you aren't doing a landscape background but instead have added free design and compositional elements to suit your needs and mood...ie the material and the colored background and butterflies. This keeps you from, even unconsciously feeling constrained with creating the semblance of a real landscape and sets you loose to play and to create whatever lines of movement and color and shape you want. But even the pose/expression is less traditional and more relaxed and fun. It suggests fun and happiness and peace and joy and fun and even subconsciously should have effected how you felt and dealt with it as you worked. Yes, not trying to overwork it helped, but probably not as much as the fact that it is a different design...........and the fact that you have the experience of struggling with the other one.This one flowed for you, probably for several reasons and because it did you probably didn't feel the need to overwork it because it fell into place. This is what our art is supposed to do, but doesn't always 
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Thank you for that Sandi, this means a lot to me. You've reaffirmed what I was trying to do here, I'm glad it comes across. It's a relief
I know this could have been more detailed, I was worried about overworking it, and I didn't want to lose the feeling I was trying to convey in the process. But, yes, there was something more. I wanted it to feel whole as a work rather than many elements working seperately. I would stand back and squint at it occasionally, something I haven't done before...to see how it was working overall
I wanted to put my hopes into this painting...for fun and happiness and peace and joy, you said it well. The Sweet Sixteen portrait I painted gave me this same feeling of ease while working, it just flowed. The second portrait was probably doomed at the beginning because I set too many parameters to work within, hoping to match that first painting. It just didn't fit, and I couldn't make it fit.
Thank you for that. You were a lot of help to me in this process!
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Did not need to have more detail. It feels complete and whole. Has she seen it yet?
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