Female Faces Oil Sketch

"Oil Sketch of Two Female Faces" (Oil on Canvas, 11"X22", $450")

I did this as a 'practice exercise' that came out pretty good, so I decided to post it. It's actually from two pages in a large- format glossy magazine, depicting hairstyles in full-page glossy-style. It's not like working with actual models, which I prefer when I can get to do it, but it works pretty well for certain aspects of learning to paint faces with all their complexity and gradual tonal changes.

It wasn't difficult to work this way, but it was a little difficult to take seriously. I suppose that's why I made them oil sketches; I couldn't see myself taking the time to put much finish on copying a pair of magazine photos. I also have the same two pictures, upside down, above these two, but this pair came out better so I cropped the photo and will paint other faces above these two to complete the canvas.

I used one of the devices that painters have used through the ages to add contrast and therefore depth to a painting. I also used it in the self-portrait in the previous post. I used a light background color on the 'shadow' side of the face and a dark background color on the 'lit' side of the face - at least with the blonde. With the brunette, I tried the opposite just to see what would happen if I 'broke the rules'. It turns out that it works pretty well to follow the rules, don't you think?

I had fun doing this exercise and I look forward to trying more faces and posting the results.