Well, I’ve been sketching, trying to come up with a likeness of my father back in 1950.  I posted the rather disappointing likeness (left) on the blog the other day and mentioned I was going to try to get it better, so I’m posting another one below.

Well, this one seems a little better as long as you don’t get too hung up on the far eye that is not on the same plane as the other one and the ear which is too big.  Again these are just practice sketches to get me closer to my goal.

Well, anyway, it’s a work that I tamper with from time to time and decided that I should go ahead and get it started so I’ve dusted it off, blocked in some of the images, and painted the sky and the bit of desert showing in the background.  My plan is to complete the picture of the man and use it as a reference for all the hues and values for the rest of the painting.

The painting will be 24X36, acrylic on board.  As I mentioned on a previous blog, the only concern I have is that of the face.  Except for a watercolor I did some years back as a study for a future painting, I’ve never attempted to paint a person, mostly doing landscapes and pastoral scenes.  Thus, the reason for the practice sketches.

I have drawn and pen and inked a lot of pictures that included people and feel fairly confident that I can handle it.  As a matter of fact, I’ll more than likely start painting people in most of my future works of art.  That is why I have to learn to do it right.

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