Fun and Faces ad infinitum

How do you decide when a portrait is done? I suppose the primary criteria would be that it looked like the person as much as the reference photo does. Perhaps a tad bit more so because I began this one from life as a demonstration at the Aurora Colors Gallery in Petaluma, California. I like where it's gone...It's a lot softer than it was. I think it's one of my best yet! This portrait thing is still fun, even though it's more work than a creative painting because such a finely tuned awareness of all the nuances of form and color of a person's face are required for success. I will be glad to move on to another project. Probably an oil portrait on black velvet that I began on the Island of Moloka'i of my friend's daughter. I took some photos of her the same day so I would have some reference for the finish that would have to happen back home in my studio. I started one of her father as well on a different couple of the days I spent painting there. He was much harder to corner to pose for me, I started going over and helping him with a project he was working on and I learned how to weave walls out of fronds cut from coconut palms. I got him to sit twice for me for an hour and a half about 2 weeks apart. I'll show you that one later. Mahalo & Aloha, Timo