Beginning a Portrait

First time trying to do a portrait. Hopefully this will look like Carley Ann Franklin Angel.

30x40 canvas

Painting tip from my friend Booker Thomas Poole. http://www.dazzcraze.com

Phyllis, here's some things to keep in mind when doing children's portraits. First and foremost, be mindful of what kind of canvas that you use when painting portraits-especially children. I use Fredrix Style 589 Portrait Canvas for all of my portraits---it's a smoother canvas--excellent for the softness of a child's face. Keep in mind the softness of Carly's face-(what a wonderful face! )--Keep in mind the expressiveness of her eyes--the "softness" of her facial features. When you finally start to paint her--remember "less is more"---use color and highlights to emphasize features on her face. (will illustrate this evening) Today, once you are comfortable with drawing her-transfer her to the canvas using the grid--NO PAINTING YET...only concern yourself with making sure that she is "rendered well"---drawn well on the canvas--that the composition is what you desire---study the her tones--lights and darks---study the relationship of her AND the background...become very familiar with the overall composition---make sure that it's placed where you want it on the canvas....my thought is that you'll spend the day making sure that she is drawn as best that you can---if she is a well-rendered drawing, then she shall be a well-rendered painting!!!! Looking forward to this evening, and I'll check in at some point today!!!! By the way, I like your first sketch....remember that her eyes are her best feature---keep them soft...keep the propotioned in relation to her face...not too large.....