One of the absolute joys of The Diary of Faces course is the art history opportunities to discover new artists. I am blown away by so much that I have found.... I have put into my Pinterest enough inspiration to keep me painting until I'm 200!
Grigorescu was prolific and I was interested to discover that like Chen, he studied in Paris and was a contemporary of Millet and Corot. Much of his work is quite dark and brooding but I found several that I wanted to attempt too.

My sketch

I left this one as a sketch as I liked the different tonal values.
The background on the painted version was very gloomy and the hair tended to get lost. I looked at some tips about moulding the hair around the head and took longer to layer my pencil strokes and can see a small improvement.
In the original she has an almost secret half smile and I think I've captured that?. The eyes are slightly different sizes in retrospect and the left one needs moving over a fraction.

Grigorescu Head of a Girl

My favourite painting is entitled 'A flower amongst flowers -Miss Millet. It is so pretty and light. I took a photo of the undersketch before I painted it. As I will be applying sheer paint layers to shade, it is really more of an outline,laying down, hopefully proportionately, the main features. I think in the original she is possibly lying down in a meadow and I found it difficult to give that impression.

My undersketch of Miss Millet

I was interested to discover that Grigorescu was in love with Millet's daughter but it 'didn't result in a happy conclusion'. I havent yet found out exactly why?

She's certainly gazing at him in adoring bliss....
Whilst I think I captured the delicacy of her features I like the soft focus feel of the original. I am puzzled as to why her forehead looks so white as it doesnt on the actual painting. A light trick?

Detail Miss Millet

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Nicolae Grigorescue

This was the week two focus for Sharon Tomlinson's lessons. Initially I wasn't especially inspired by the choice of portrait. It is extremely dark and difficult to work out the placement of the headscarf etc.I'm not keen on how the right eye is obscured and it is too impressionistic for my tastes.

Grigorescu Girl in Scarf

But I had a go....... I sketched it first and actually learnt alot from the process. The nose is relatively short , the face and lips full, giving it a youthful feel.
I used artistic licence with the headscarf and the eye! I drew a type of hajib I've seen some of my younger pupils wearing that is easy for them to put on. I think this portrait has good contrasting tones and was more pleased with it than I expected to be!

Grigorescu inspired sketch

I think she appears grumpy rather than pensive.....

I tried to stay with Sharon T's Acrylic version, making myself put away my other mediums as I need to develop my ability to apply glazes and work this way. I produced a
painting of which I was really proud, trying to make more of a scarf but failing miserably with cloth folds!
I liked the head tilt and the features and was pleased with the muted tones chosen, although not as dark and abstract as the original.

My girl in a headscarf

More Asiatic faces

Delicate Japanese girl

I didnt quite capture the almond eyes in this one but was happy with the titlt of the head. I was drawn to the delicacy of the features and contrast between the porcelain skin, red lips and black hair. The latter again needs much more practice.

I chose Yamaoka's work as a contrast- she has such a strong and striking face. I was amazed to read that he produces these works using an art software on a tablet. I'd be interested to try.....

Inspired by Seiko Yamaoka portrait

I've been busy honing my portrait drawing and painting skills and find myself attempting to replicate faces I wouldn't have even dared or known where to start. Georgette Chen's work led to a fascination with Asiatic features, the obvious almond shaped eyes, porcelain skin and distinct bone structure. I liked the following work of Chen's and copied it using Neocolour II's.

Georgette Chen's portrait of a young woman

My mixed media version

I was pleased with the shape of the eyes and face. The colours are obviously brighter but then the medium used was different to that of the original.

I looked at many different Asian portraits during my research and chose a few to try to draw. I liked this Malaysian beauty with her huge eyes and pouty mouth, deciding to leave it as a pencil sketch. I love the way she is looking skywards and has a dreamy expression. I need to do alot of work with recreating hair in pencil!

Malaysian girl pencil sketch