FPM #8: Emmet is done. Probably...

Fall Portrait Marathon, Emmet!

Emmet
Acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"
©Xan Blackburn 2012

Well, I almost never totally leave a painting alone even after I've told you it's done, but we're at that stage with Emmet now.  I've grown very fond of his little wrinkled brow and arrow-shaped face, but we'll be saying farewell soon.
...
Case in point: I just repainted the entire background between the last sentence and this one!  Typical!

Emmet - work in progress
Acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"
©Xan Blackburn 2012

Anyhow, when last we saw Emmet, he was sporting this look.
The color was basically in, still kind of washy, a little coarse.  The magic transformation always happens almost paradoxically by glazing whites over all.  You wouldn't think that would help to make things seem more three dimensional, but somehow it does.  In the real world, light bounces all over the place, including deep into more translucent objects, like skin or eyes, and also off the surface of those objects.  It seems like the last glazes of white give it that surface light, while still allowing the sense of things below the surface to be seen as well.

Anyhow, I love watching that little magic trick work!

Take a look at these side-by-side details to see more of what I mean.

Emmet - progress details
Acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"
©Xan Blackburn 2012

Doesn't it look more like flesh, more dimensional on the right, after the whites have been applied?

Well, that's about it for Emmet's portrait.

Who's up next?  Let's see ....
Ah, yes!  Robin's kitty, Allen!  Allen is a tabby, with fur and all, so that will be a different kind of challenge altogether!

Thanks for looking!