I decided that since in theory someone may actually want to keep this painting when it’s done, I should make the face look like the real face and not like my placeholder. So I painted it white and started over. I also fixed the hands, which were missing some fingers. I had done a better job before with the torso. It’s got blue and yellow mixed in there.
Poor Adele is not a very pretty woman. Her face is long, her jaw weak, her skin sallow. She has a knotty nose and dog’s eyes. She has lovely hands, but it’s like she doesn’t know what to do with them. They’re just thrown together, like clothes tossed in the corner of the room. The spots of color on her face are just that, spots of color, like blood seeping through a bandage. Klimt was the perfect artist to render her image. The painting is so beautiful, you don’t even notice how unattractive she is.
I’m realizing now how I got some of the proportions wrong on this. The checkerboard pattern should come out farther to the left. Also, none of it looks gold enough. I hope to fix that with my secret weapon–decent quality paint! Painting the face was harder than I expected. I’m used to watercolor, which has a lot more control than acrylic. I’ll keep touching at it and messing with it until I’m happy with this. Not sure how much time I want to spend on this. I do have other projects to do. Still, I think I’m learning a lot about Klimt. It may inspire new projects.
