Finishing touches...

So, when I paint a portrait, it literally consumes me.  If I have to stop to make dinner, fold laundry or vacuum up the glass ornaments that the cats broke, I will walk by my studio and just look at the painting over and over again.....I can't WAIT to sit back down and finish it.  Unfinished paintings drive me nuts!

When I finally do sit back down and "finish" the painting, I am SO excited about it that I immediately photograph it and post it....and it's usually LATE at night and then I go to bed.  

The next day, when I look at the painting that the night BEFORE I thought was oh-so-done, it just needs a little bit more here...and a dab here....and I leave it.  I come back later and boy, it really needs something here.....and there....and so it goes.  

Then I have to re-photograph it and re-post it both to Facebook and my website.  That's alright though, b/c sleeping on it really helps and even though the add-ons are minute, they do make a difference in the final product.

There was this ADORABLE pic on Facebook of some friends' baby that I wanted to try....here was the first "finished" pic:

And here was the final FINAL finished product with a few small changes....but they made  a big improvement, don't you think?

In the end, I darkened the warm colors behind the baby, lifted more reflections in her eyes, slightly deepened her rosy cheeks and defined her lil' nose a bit more.  All in all, this has been my best skin tone in a portrait yet, so I'm really happy with it.

I have a LOT more to learn, but one painting at time, eh?