Recently I finished an order, paintings of two kids, Marie and Corentin.
Originally I wanted to draw them with pastels. When I was a kid I always used pastels for portraits. It came naturally to me, was quick and relatively easy. At that time I was much more comfortable with drawing than using brushes. Like most beginners I had no idea how to handle acrylics. They dry quickly and gradients seem to be too difficult to achieve.
However, pastels have a big disadvantage. They are basically pigments on paper. Storage is difficult, handling is difficult, framing is difficult. Acrylics, on the other hand, dry up to plastic and remain resistant to light, water and touch.
When I used pastels this time, I got so frustrated, that I finally realized that what I had liked so much a long time ago, just does not do it any more. The older I get the more I enjoy to get the maximum out of the darks and lights and I want to be able to correct and add layers on top of each others. I like to add fine lines and hard edges, if necessary. It is just a hassle or even impossible to do all that with pastels.
Therefore I ended up painting four portraits instead of two.
I killed the first one, a pastel drawing of the girl, and started completely new in acrylics. Then I tried the boy with pastels, hated it once again and just painted over it with acrylics. So the final pieces were both painted in acrylics.
Some work in progress shots:
Base and line drawing
Corentin - Work in Progress
Girl with unfinished skirt
Marie work in progress
Neck and skirt, detail:
Marie - detail: neck and skirt
Skirt, detail:
Marie - detail: skirt
Thanks for the challenge!
All three