I learned a bunch of lessons with this painting. First off, never spray fixative late at night when you’re half asleep...big mistake. It dripped all over my canvas board, and I didn’t notice until halfway through the next day. Now that it’s dried, those splatters stick out like a sore thumb and really bug me. I uploaded two photos in different lighting (outside and indoor light), plus a third to show the fixative mess. None of them quite capture the real painting colors. Photographing art without glare is a skill of its own, and my lousy phone camera doesn’t help Beyond all those hurdles, I think the face I painted came out rounder than the reference, and my halftones lean warmer than I intended. The chin could have better edge control in some spots and the hair under the hat looks a little sloppy, I really struggled to get clean shapes in that area. I'm sure there are many other things that need work but these stick out to me the most. Overall I would say I had fun doing this painting but if I'm having fun I must not be doing something right.

This is my final stage. Any feedback would be great. Thanks.

Final stages here. Any feedback is appreciated, thanks.

Trying to make it look more like she's in an atmosphere with dust, smoke or mist.

There are probably still a lot a problems in it, but I think I've hit the point you talked about where I really don't where to go from this stage. What bothers me most about it now is the right side of her face looks too sharp, almost cut out. I tried to soften it, but it still looks sharp to me. Its like its not in the same atmosphere.

Finally finish this one. I have some problems with adding color, blending, and repeating the process.

I forgot to post ‘in progress’ photos.

Morgan - forgive me for not using one of the models but I needed to get this one done. I cannot tell you how much more colorful I was able to paint in the light areas and halftone areas and with so much more color vibration than I usually paint with after watching these videos and simplifying the values of the face into 5-6 values. No blending, just tiles of color. I had watched your previous videos (Painting for the Impatient and Homework) but something really clicked with this course, I cannot think you enough for your help. You're the GOAT in my opinion. Any feedback you want to give I'm all ears. Getting feedback from you would be like you getting feedback from Sargent. And I know I'm not the only one here that holds you in that high of regards. Thank you!

This video about finishing touches is really helpful Morgan. Thank you.

The second assignment was only one week after the first, and I can already see the improvements. More importantly, my brush felt more confident and efficient when doing the second. Thank you, Maestro Morgan！

I really enjoyed this portrait and learned a lot. I'm looking in the mirror backwards more to get better accuracy. Critique appreciated. I enjoy your jokes too.

I definitely went through some struggles with this one. The eye on the shadow side bothers me a lot but i can't seem to fix it. I think the corner of the mouth needs to be move up a bit as well. I will try attempt to fix them when its dry. Anything else that needs to be improved or fixed ?

Thank you for providing such inspiring references! I struggled to paint this but it was also a joy! I decided I needed to put it in time out and maybe revisit it after my skills improve. That shirt gave me fits! I'm finding out that I am a very messy painter and I get totally overwhelmed with brushes and rags all over the place. I have a hard time cleaning the brushes in between colors. I keep having to remind myself that I am not painting a wall and to stop overworking my brush strokes. Even though I am already quite slow, I think I need to slow down more and stop when I start getting tired, because then I make a mess. Anyway I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us. I am quite happy with my second oil portrait, I love the old world/antique feeling of it!

Morgan - Thank you for the course. It's hands down the best painting course I've ever watched. And thank you for your recommendation of the Blick linen panels with extra gesso - great surface to paint on for not much money. I have a few more general questions that I would love to get your opinion on so I'm going to just ask them all at once. 1.) Do you still paint your larger pieces on Claessens 166? If not, what are you using now? Also do you add extra gesso to your stretched linen pieces? 2.) Could you explain exactly what you prefer to use (products, sheen, etc.) and what your normal standard operating procedure is for varnishing your paintings? 3.) Any tips for photographing your completed artwork? Your paintings are incredible but the photographs of your paintings are excellent too so any help there would be much appreciated for people like me who can't seem to photograph their artwork well.

It's was an excellent exercise, I lerned a lot but I'm definitely not happy with the results. I tried painting without sketching it first so it gave me a lot of trouble later. Gonna try it again some time later on.

I find myself getting too blend crazy at the end, I can't seem to stop myself. One of the things I'm really struggling with is the thickness of the paint, I feel like I'm applying it too thick. It still looks too graphic to me, but overall I'm happy with the result.

Learned a lot from this one. Took a long break between sessions and had to remix everything but it was good practise overall to get the matching values from scratch. Also continuing after everything is completely dry is daunting. I think I'm most happy with the shirt. Kept it loose and it turned out okay.

Final Touches

Here's my Annie Oakley! What do you think Morgan?