Nora

This is my latest Indian portrait painted at the AVA session last Thursday. 

Nowad luk (Nora) Ootenna Inuit Amerindian 1915 16" x 12" Centenaire 140lb (300gsm) not

I downloaded the original photograph from Pinterest OR it may have come from the Facebook community `Moses on the Mesa', a treasure trove of old Indian photographs. I don't really do it justice as in the photo her beautifully groomed hair tumbles down to her waist. Frankly I didn't feel able to portray this in a way that does it justice. Artistic licence?

I made a pencil drawing, not over detailed then painted, starting with the eyes, nose and mouth then gradually the rest of her face. When dry I put stronger colour in for the shaded areas. Colours used were limited to Cadmium Red Light, Raw Sienna, Ultramarine Blue and/or Cerulean Blue. The hair is a mixture of Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber with some Raw Umber. With more thought I might well have used other colours as I did in the Amy Winehouse painting. The original guide photo, as usual with these Indian paintings, is in black and white tending towards sepia.

Brushes used were Isabey, Escoda and Rosemary travelling brushes from 6 to 10.

In general I think it reasonable. I masked out some areas around the eyes and left them the white of the paper. I've pondered whether that was correct - too much white - but as I'm uncertain decided to leave them as they are rather than touch them up with some pale reddish washes.