Mug shot

Finally the dry spell breaks. I was just sitting here looking at this mug shot (not sure if it's real or fake) from one of the google ads ("{Name of your town} is rocked by this website!!" - arrest records) and was admiring the great bony structures in her face as well as the very strong composition in the pose and the tilted sideward thrust. I tend to like unconventionally attractive women like this who look tough and strong, like Julia Styles, Ronda Rousy, Meisha Tate, etc. It's why I started doing the female MMA fighter series in the first place really.

Ok, I've accomplished my goals on this one, no reason to keep laboring on the non-essential parts. This way it draws attention to the focal area of the eyes, brows and corrugated forehead and detail falls away elsewhere. I know it looks crappy but I just don't care - I see absolutely no reason to make this a finished painting, it's just a copy of a photograph. Aside from wanting to figure out how to do the forehead creases I was mainly concerned with color value - getting the mids and darks dark enough to create a sense of solidity and roundness of form. This is a recurring problem for me - I tend to think I've got it all nailed and then very gradually realize my mids and darks are waaay too light. So I darken them up, hoping I haven't overdone it, and after a while realize they're still too light.

It could use some more work but I nailed the basics and have reached the point where thinking about working on it more fills me with an overpowering aversion.

Oh, and I was also interested in developing the rounded bony forms of the face - the upper face specifically, meaning forehead, brow ridge and nose. This is something shared by all the 'tough chicks' I tend to dig.

Shortly after what I wrote last time I realized the reason for the aversion was my abdominal issues - they tend to creep up on me and I don't notice them at first, but they make me feel awful and develop an aversion to - everything really. Feeling somewhat better now and decided it would be a shame to just leave it looking as bad as it did. Still needs a bit more - especially the hand and a little bit of background love.