by RJSugden » Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:38 pm
I'd leave the background for now. It's nice as it is but doing more may be a distraction from the subject of the painting.
Clearly you are working on her hair. I'd take the opportunity to lower the hairline - her forehead is too big. She has a square chin and the jawline doesn't feel right as well as being too strong.
The big feature for this painting will probably be the dress. It needs to contain something of interest, perhaps the folds, perhaps contrasting colours or perhaps a beautiful pattern overlaid on the rich silk. Can you hear the sliky rustling it makes as she moves?!
While working on the dress I would cover your signature adn redo it so that it is not so distracting eg it could be written vertically along the left hand corner.
I don't think that the 'Exit' sign works as the writing distracts us from the lady and the meaning is not immediately clear. If you have a message it would be better to make it visually eg by painting a view in the doorway on the right.
The colour of the wall is a little unattractive - perhaps a dark monochrome colour would help to make the figure stand out?
Do finish the painting as it has the making of something to be proud of. You are probably at that stage we all reach where we feel we are losing touch with the original idea. This is when you need to dig in. You'll be surprised to wake up one morning and find yourself think "Hey! I'm getting somewhere now!". Good luck!
