It’s nothing to brag about, but I can still enjoy the result without feeling that I’m being overly delusional. The process was clunky, mixing colors was fun, but the paint dried much faster than I thought it would, and I still managed to muddy up my color pallet despite trying specifically not to. Still I feel good where the painting landed. It’s readable for across a room and is interesting(ish) close up. Give it a month and a half of getting hands on experimenting with a brush and pallet, and I’m sure that I’ll gladly be able find plenty of well chosen words to critique a small 5”by 5” square of work.
(Note: the front facing outline of vermillion orange and the trailing edge of blue work to push what would otherwise be a dull portrait off the background.)
With that said… the charcoal that was used as the framework for the painting was pretty good. Readable shadows, the nostrils were built nicely, strong outline… but hitting a target occasionally is more symptomatic of luck than skill. Have to do it again with more regularity before skill is something that can be shaped.
Zygote Blum 