One of my last portraits of 2017

Portrait of Rae – 12 x 16 inch acrylic on stretched canvas (SOLD, thank you!)

One of my classes from last year, {Held}Captive, by Jeanne-Marie Webb, was about working loosely, and intuitively. Even with using a reference photo, she encouraged us to really put our own ideas into the portrait, and to let loose with brush strokes, and to enjoy the act of painting, without thinking so much about the finished product. It really does help relieve some of that pressure of getting a portrait “just right”. And sometimes, what comes from that kind of exploration, is more expressive than any planned portrait.

I really love where this portrait wandered to…with deep dark backgrounds, lightened up with unexpected color and shapes, and even unreadable “script” showing up. I really liked working with this angle of a portrait too…and it is much more “up close and personal” than what I usually do.

Portrait of Rae, is now available in my Etsy art shop, ArtcyLucy.