"Madam M" --Sergant Would Roll Over In His Grave

Yesterday I completed the portait seen to the right in about 4 or 5 hours....given life thrown in.  I decided to call it "Madam M" as I have not gotten permission from my dear friend (who I hope will still remain a dear friend) especially after she sees this!  This is a re-try of a much larger painting (16 x 20) I  worked on over the summer.   This piece is  9 x 12 oil primed linen.

I may need to rethink this goal creating a daily portrait painting, given my tendency to add detail.  Sometimes a masterpiece created in the late hours may not translate to award winning art the next morning.  However, I think I did nice job on my "Madam M".

Here's an artistic note on the tricky aspect of glasses.  Madam M wears glasses, and her portait would not be complete without them.  However, I am challenged to gracefully and accurately introduce the man-made articles into the portrait as artfully as I would like to.  In previous classes I've taken, teachers have suggested students paint everything but the glasses, and leave the glasses for the last minute.  Any thoughts here by other artists? 

Please note, for those of you who are not John Singer Sergent fans, Sergent was rather infamously known for his daring (at the time) portrait of Madam X.  In my wildest dreams my work may ever be compared with Sergent....however, I thought given that my friend might not like to be identified, I choose a reference that maybe only other portrait artists may appreciate.  My apologies to Mr. Sergent. 

Interested in having your portrait created?  Contact me at my website http://www.bethv.com and click on "Contact" .  Now is the perfect time to plan ahead for Christmas and the New Year, and I'm fired up to paint!