Another face for my diary

2 Aug

This week, in my Diary of Faces, I painted this young lady after Head of a Young Woman by Girolamo Nerli (1860 – 1926). He was an Italian painter who worked and traveled in Australia and New Zealand, helping to move Australian and New Zealand art in new directions. He worked in oils, watercolor, and pastel. This one was watercolor. My version is mixed media, including acrylic paint and watercolor pencils. It was a challenge to try to get the soft look of watercolor this way, but I can’t use watercolor in my book, with it’s slick pages. I’m very pleased with it! All the portrait practice is paying off. It is taking me less time to do the drawings and I think I’m improving.

Sharing with Paint Party Friday tomorrow. :)

Tags: ,

19 Responses to “Another face for my diary”

  1. Pointypix August 3, 2012 at 1:47 am #

    this is beautiful! I love the expression on her face and I actually would’ve thought this was acrylic if you hadn’t said it was watercolour – its so strong and not wishy washy the way watercolour can be – I really like this and yes, clearly portrait practice is paying off as this is fab!

  2. Rinda August 3, 2012 at 1:52 am #

    She has a great expression, and I love the poppies on the left, too. Happy PPF!
    Rinda

  3. Natasha August 3, 2012 at 2:28 am #

    This is absolutely stunning! Wow. Gorgeous work. And yes, I would say your portrait practice is paying off! :)

  4. Annette G August 3, 2012 at 3:55 am #

    wow your portrait is fabulous, such character, wonderful. Happy PPF, Annette x

  5. Anonymous August 3, 2012 at 4:55 am #

    Wow I love her expression! and her wild hair ;) your puppies are awesome ♥

  6. Voie de Vie August 3, 2012 at 8:15 am #

    That is just great. Love her hair! I hadn’t thought of watercolor pencils – I might need to investigate.

    And I don’t think you needed any practice. :)

  7. giggles August 3, 2012 at 8:49 am #

    Wow how gorgeous is this!! So impressive!! Your work is stunning…leaves me speechless…quite a feat!!

    Hugs Giggles

  8. Mary C. Nasser August 3, 2012 at 8:51 am #

    Gorgeous mixed media portrait!
    Love the softness of it!
    Great juxtaposition of the portrait and text.
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary

  9. Marji August 3, 2012 at 9:50 am #

    Oh, I love her. Those poppies are fabulous. The two pages are a perfect pair. Happy PPF

  10. Nora Clemens-Gallo August 3, 2012 at 11:58 am #

    OMG!!, your lady is gorgeous. Love the soft colors and the touch of nostalgia that has in it. Love the pages, everything!!!

  11. Tracey Fletcher King August 3, 2012 at 5:53 pm #

    all the hard work is really paying off and you just seem to be getting better and better by the minute… this is really something else… loving watching the progression…xx

  12. Alicia A August 4, 2012 at 12:13 am #

    wow I absolutely adore this portrait! She’s so beautiful with the soft edges and the rich hair, and has a great expression, happy but almost mischievous – as well it is not a conventional face but for that reason more lovely… awesome!! happy ppf!

  13. Karen Smithey August 4, 2012 at 12:17 pm #

    Oh, this is so lovely! Just wonderful work!

  14. Faye August 4, 2012 at 1:15 pm #

    Splendid work. The expression on her face is wonderful. Also love the poppies.

  15. Lisa Wright August 4, 2012 at 4:59 pm #

    wow, you did such a fab job. Fantastic!

  16. Anonymous August 5, 2012 at 2:37 am #

    This is a beautiful piece, her expression is fantastic. It is beautifully soft just like the old masters. I love the poppies.
    Von

  17. Faye August 5, 2012 at 4:04 pm #

    Melisa, me again. I just googled the painting and I am awed that you have captured the look so beautifully and expertly. Wow!

    • admin August 5, 2012 at 6:56 pm #

      Thank you so much, Faye! :)

  18. denthe August 5, 2012 at 11:40 pm #

    You did a wonderful job on this!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>