AndreaMG's Gallery ✟ Joan of Arc ✟

[eighty+]

HI Andy do you mind if I have a go at your last one as I think it would help me with the oil's Ow I don't mean Brandy ;) ;) ;) :D :D :D :D KIA ORA

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Robyn I'm so glad you liked it so much :cool:, it's my favorite too :cool:

Thank you Dear SilverO, the curles where so fun to paint :cool:

Thank you Dear Jean, merit goes to Keisha ;)

Thank you Dear Steve, almost 3 in a row! Now I need some rest :D

Thank you Dear Caesar, you're far too generous, but I also think this is my best one so far. It's funny that one might think that while doing this I might have been listening to some Mozart or Bach since it's all dreamy and enchanting, actually it was Sofia Coppola's Bling Ring Soundtrack and Nicky Minaj :o

Thank you Dear E+, sure go ahead, actually I'm honored :cool:

[D Akey]

Really nice. I'm suspecting that you are developing at least two different looks = the long sweeping marks, whether straight or ribbon-like, and then you have the repeating small-ish paint daubs clustered together following generally lighting and color. At least that is lately where you seem to be leaning.

What I'm finding interesting is to see how you're pulling them more and more together in a sort of puzzle piece relationship, closer and closer until ultimately you see exactly where each mark would fit best. It's a very interesting process and one that is showing mold-breaking reconstruction of the traditional portrait look. I can see this going places. Your knack for getting expressions and beauty in uncommon ways is most noteworthy. They are all complete in the essentials and you nail the expressions in such unconventional methods. But that you nail them is without question.

Very impressive and a whole lot of fun to watch your personal aesthetic masquerade! Bravo!

[Alexandra]

Beautiful, love it!

[eighty+]

Hi Andy I've done the Copy of your last Girl Ok I've bunged it in my lot ok had to cheat like hell as tried with oil brush but it doesn't want to go where I want to

GO so it was back to tools ok

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Alexandra :cool:

Ah ah, don't worry Dear E+, I like oils because they are powerful, but they miss the gentleness of pastels ;)

Thank you Dear D. I don't know how to explain it but I think ribbons and hair match so good together that you can easily sell them as actual hair in paintings :). Right now I'm in love with this "mosaic look"', it gives the faces almost a primordial appearance, they look like pieces of solidified mud but no matter what the faces still look beautiful (at least to my eyes :D). The only thing is that this approach is very difficult, each pice is carefully laid in that position with that shape and color, you're right it's like a puzzle and it almost feels sculpted rather than painted, but then again it's very demanding. On the other hand the "straight lines approach" being more loose and less tight is way more relaxing. In this painting I also used the knife which I almost abandoned in latest paintings, I used it as you can see to create the aura effect and to swipe some light away from her face giving the picture a more vibrant look. So now I have ribbons, mud and a knife, it's everything I need :o Kia Ora!

[pat1940]

Andrea, this is absolutely beautiful, you look at those eyes and right into the soul, brush strokes are so very good, great work

[gxhpainter2]

Andrea truly a fine fine painting, I found it very interesting in reading over the comments from others that you mention mosiac's , you have such a rich history available to you to view and experience mosiacs I can see that now in your recent works, along with the gestural brush work I find very exciting, your artistic sense has blending them well together...:cool::cool::cool:

[AndreaMG]

Thank you both :cool:

[AndreaMG]

Penguins swimming in polluted waters can end up covered with oil. The poor things not only poison themselves ingesting that nasty stuff in the desperate attempt to clean their feathers, but they also suffer from hypothermia not being able to get quickly dry. The knitted jumpers keep them warm and avoid the ingestion of the oil. The jumpers are also sold with stuffed penguin toys to raise money to clean the little fellows.

To know more here's the link to Philip Island Penguin Foundation: http://penguinfoundation.org.au/

And here's the painting...:)

Click three times on image to enlarge!

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[gxhpainter2]

a sad tale indeed AndreaMG, but what a juicy , brushy painting... I like the bright sweater colors against the earthen tones of the background, definitely shows your painterly hand...:cool::cool:

[justjean]

Sad indeed and really like your colours and the little fellows , we are quickly poisoning our world aren't we

[copespeak]

I love this painting Andrea! You've got the determined personality of these little guys perfectly, and such beautiful strokes!

We live just over an hour from Phillip Island and have watched the penguins come in to their burrows at dusk a few times over the years. Now it is strictly controlled, which is safer for the birds, but in the 60s we used to sit amongst the sand dunes and have them waddle past.

It's a much loved and attended tourist destination now.

Have you visited them yourself?

[D Akey]

WOW! Boy, you really have some kind of brush control! This is a great pic, in my opinion. And yes, it's quite tragic -- not your paint style, I mean about the penguins. Thanks for the link. Sometimes one wonders if the only organisms there may exist in years to come are cockroaches, rats and microbes.

Anyway, this painting really impresses me. Lots of swash to your strokes, never overworked, and a great balance between realism and artistic panache. It intrigues me too how by leaving so much of the image up to the viewer it draws us in so much more to participate in the experience by personalizing it. It also feels like there's a lot of movement on the part of the penguins as they try to shake and flap the toxins off.

[stevemawmv]

Dear Andrea,
Even if there wasn't a message to this piece, I would still love
the painting....love it even more with it!
Thanks for the link!
Take care friend,
Steve

[Caesar]

Unbelievable how You succeed to make Your subject move and express their emotions by means of an extraordinary brushstroking! I'm bowing in front of this artpiece, dear Andrea!

[coops]

My eyes are playing tricks on me, I am sure they moved. Great painting but such a sad story. Well done:)

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Gary, for the compliments! You're right earthly tones really make pop brighter colors :cool:

Thank you Dear Jean, go penguins go! X)

Thank you Dear Robyn, no way! You're so lucky. Unfortunately I never saw them in their natural habitat, but sooner or later I'll visit Australia for sure and I will look for them! Here in Italy we have caretta caretta turtles that sometimes hang out on shores ;)

Thank you Dear D, I always like your technical comments, but please be more severe, I can take it :cool:. Thanks I'm glad that you find the painting not static!

Thank you Dear Steve, now back to ladies' paintings X)

Thanks Dear Caesar, I bow to you oh mighty one :cool: You're too generous :p

Thanks Dear Katie, your eyes are not deceiving you, they are actually running and shaking! :cool:

[pai]

hello Andrea, what a journey of these portrait painting thread of yours and lots of great comments to learn from all of you Artragers on about classical and modern portrait paintings. Love your different approaches on different styles and brushes strokes. I love them all really, hard to pick my favorites. :)

@ Caesar, if you read this thread again, I wanted to say I really love the painting you did on Lady Agnew Sargent. Beautiful :)

[Caesar]

Thank you, dear Pai. It was one of my past Learning from the Masters excercises ....

[AndreaMG]

非常感谢 Pai :cool:

[pat1940]

very colorful adorable penquins Andrea, good work

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Pat ;)

[Alexandra]

I love the Jumpers as well, Andrea, the strokes, colors, so vibrant and full of positive energy!

[HarlequiNQB]

I am floored by your most recent pieces. I absolutely love the Penguins especially (and really, who wouldn't? They're adorable). I am loving the style you have working for you right now too - it looks so sketchy and seemingly effortless, and yet everything seems to be exactly where it should be all the same, as if you'd put a great deal of thought into each stroke. Quite beautiful, and extremely impressive. Floored, really.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Dear Alexandra and HarlequiNQB!!! :cool::cool::cool:

[AndreaMG]

A bit of Cosplay... Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite (credit to model AnyaSky from DeviART).

Click three times on image to enlarge!

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[SilverO]

That really amazing, love the bright colours.
Isn't Burial at Sea part II coming out soon, I'm so excited:D

[stevemawmv]

Hello Andrea...
I like your painting of AnyaSky's photo....
Curious though, are you into video games, Cosplay events or AnyaSky's Cosplay portrayals? She is good, but I perfer Anna “Ormeli“ Moleva....
If its games, I' am still stuck on Lara Croft/Tomb Raider, just finished the last one...
Take care friend,
Steve

[Victor Osaka]

AndreaMG, love the latest illustrations. Love your use of differing stroke styles. Expertly done. Lovely to look at.

[Caesar]

Astounding new painting, dear Andrea! It's a sort of cosmological, quantistic style where Your elementar brushstrokes probabilistic wave function shape the contingent reality of a wonderful shy girl! You got it from hadrons collisions in the CERN facilities ... :cool::D:D:D:D:D

[silvy]

I finally found the time to see all your recent works
Really outstanding, beautiful style!
Jumpers is my favorite.

[copespeak]

She's fabulous Andrea! So bold, and striking and the colours are just wonderful. :cool:

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear SilverO, unfortunately I suffer from nausea and I can't play first person view games, anyway I liked the character, glad you liked it!

Thank you Dear Steve!! The girl you refer to is the cosplayer that was hired by the creators of the game and is really cute, but I prefer Lady AnyaSky, in particular her pose in the picture I tried to paint is just beautiful and perfect. As a game player of course I like cosplay very much, but hey who doesn't? Tomb raider? In the past I played some of them, the first one was a masterpiece, the others not so much, but I mostly play JRPGs. Say hello to Mr. Jones ;)

Thank you so much Victor for your kind comments!

Grazie Cesare, you're so funny X). At the beginning the painting was more traditional then I got carried away (just a little...:p) and messed up things BIG TIME, but you know I have to follow not my mind but my heart! Grazie ancora carissimo! Ciau

Grazie mille Dear Silvy, the penguins had a lot of success :cool:

Thank you Dear Robyn, glad you like it, now I realize she could easily fit in one of Sailor Moon's episodes X). Next one will be more classic, I promise :D

[mannafig]

You have an amazing gallery here they are all fabulous.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Lady Maleficent X)

[pai]

Very energetic stroke and I love the color you chose. She's pretty lady :)

[D Akey]

Now that you have asked me to be more critical I will exceed my personal limits a little with my opinion of what you're doing in this technique. But only because I know you are aspiring to something great and original. Understand also that you are coming from a world that is very different from mine. Italian contemporary art is very cool, but my West Coast, California tastes lean toward the bright and flashy and less earthy. I have seen decades of it and I like some when it works and don't like certain other looks that came along about the same time.

Some of the flashy stuff is super wherein it became elegant where design made up for lack of time spent. Some quick offhanded work on the other hand is merely quick and schlocky and has associations for me of motel rooms and doctors offices where any crap on the wall would satisfy their bad taste.

What is the difference? Depends on what you value. Sometimes cheesy made the artist a TON of money. But I don't care for it and would critique it for whether I would hang it or try to paint like it. So I am opinionated and have certain personal standards that I often don't bring into my comments because the artists here are on a journey and I find my words can shut someone's artistic joys down. And I never want that. Besides my opinions are my own, and some would agree and some disagree and they would be right for themselves in both instances.

So this critique is for your evaluation and consideration only because I don't know exactly what you have in your head with your latest stylistic endeavors. And rather than you become me, I have tried to become you (only you, Andrea, in about a year or two) so that what I say is something that might be true for your direction. So you've opened a door where you will now need to evaluate my comments as much as I evaluate your art.

I think you can paint really well. This works for you but also works against you a little because you can miss weak graphic ideas because overall it looks decent. You have such facility with paint that you may just be painting the main thing well (the girl) in a known way, and then popping on a few flourishes which don't particularly do anything for the painting, but aren't so distracting that they would make the painting bad. (Personal taste only)

So for example the ribbon lines that you put on top of your paintings don't relate to anything. They're very obvious, but they don't define a concept or a vision. It's as if you painted a nice painting then when it didn't excite you anymore, you wanted to do something beyond the normal stuff you know you're good at but make it stand out from all the other artists who paint pretty girls. So you pushed some of the paint around but to no purpose, only hoping that it would lead to something. The problem is that it hasn't. It has remained like Leonardo painting the Mona Lisa and then taking a marker and drawing a handlebar mustache on it himself. The mustache has nothing to do with anything else and it looks more like graffiti as a separate comment from a different agenda that distracts and draws attention to itself. It was interesting once. In all of them they look so much alike that it's like you don't know what it is or how to expand the concept.

Compare some of the paintings of the beautiful ladies with the penguins. I think the penguin painting works. Why do you suppose I might find that so? It's not because I prefer pictures of penguins. It's because the sensibility you had for your flourishes that usually sit atop and apart from your painting are in the penguin painting in evidence all through the piece. The swashes have multiple characters, have variety, and are part of the voice you use to describe the subject. The flourishes in the paintings of the girls seem like an afterthought sitting atop the pic, if you see what I mean.

So I have to ask you, what is it about the swashes that's appealing to you? Was it the fast brushwork? Was it the ability to put down information like flashing a rapier like Don Juan confronted by a cuckolded husband? Is it a visual externalization suggesting the mutilation of your obsession and unrequited love of such remote beauty? Or are they marks like your signature writ large though hidden as an encryption? Or, if it's more of a visual motif? If so, to me it seems like it's coming to the party after it's winding down.

If the latter, visual/painterly reason, then I would want to start the painting with that swash in your strokes. Are you loving the curves? Why not put more of those into the painting when you're initially beginning your composition? Why not look at the picture you're about to paint and find the action in it and slap in some tone according to that axis. And then begin building your marks off of that, one relating to the next?

Painting like that, working up and considering every mark relative to the others is usually very self-conscious and unnecessary, unless you're experimenting and are seeking something new by doing variations on a tight theme until something emerges for you that you can run with, but it ought to give you a handle on it by the end for the next paintings. Knowing that it's for the purpose of growing and expanding past one's normal method is to process into being a cohesive look based on a single theme.

It's taking the risk of messing up one or two paintings in slow deliberate evaluation of every mark that will allow you to see what's happening so you can move it ahead. Hopefully it will refine itself as you go through a few exercises. And you certainly may change and alter your main premise as you go. But it will at least force into clarity why you're doing something or should try a deviation, so that the next paintings will have more purposefulness of your test style. It's more of a purge for flushing out into view a paradigm shift and less of trying to find an improvement based on a one time superficial affectation like using glitter eye makeup. That's going to get old fast because there's only so much you can do with it because you saw someone in a glamor magazine do it. It's sort of theirs and not yours. If you don't really know what you're dealing with it's hard to go anywhere with it.

Knock off artists have this problem. They are usually limited to copying flourishes in context, but then don't have a clue what to do with it in a different scenario. So you have to begin owning this look and varying it as a primary device in at least a few of your pieces until you have the essence in hand. And then it is yours.

Go man go! And remember, I am just somebody talking. I could be completely wrong for where you're headed. But even if what I say is something you disagree with, it's serving you in that you will have a reaction to it which should help you clarify what you want to see clearly. I really like your work.

[Alexandra]

Great style there Andrea!

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Pai and Alexandra :cool::cool::cool:

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Dear D for taking time to comment on my works with honesty (I truly appreciate that!!!). First of all I want to make one thing very clear, my latest works are not driven by the purpose to catch attention, I paint this way because I like how it looks, that doesn't mean of course that I'm not interested in what other people may think, that's why I post them on the forum. You have to know that digital photorealistic paintings that do not have a "painterly look" do not move me anymore, I do not like them, that's the main reason I tried to search for different styles. What I find so rewarding while I paint is that often is the painting itself that takes control over me, I don't know how to explain it, but because digital painting is so fast and the possibilities are infinite (if you make a mistake there's always the undo button) it keeps on pushing me to try different things. Well that's at the same time good and bad because the risk of messing up things is very high, but I'd rather screw let's say 10 paintings ending up with just one which is exceptional than having 11 very good paintings. The one truly exceptional painting is worth it, and we painters are always after the perfect painting. And you know, if you don't try and experiment you might never score that one truly exceptional work. For instance both these paintings

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80144

are a result of experimentation, but at least to my eyes, the latter one is crap compared to the first one. With the penguins I achieved a sort of balance, I guess that the more I paint the more I take control over things, but maybe I will lose some freshness over time? Thank you again (next painting it will be more classic, no ribbons, I want to check if I'm still able to paint accurately X) Kia Ora my Dear friend

[mannafig]

Your grey tonal portrait is by far the better one of these two for me. But I am a sucker for black and white, weather it is drawing painting or photographs. Superb work dear Andrea:)

[AndreaMG]

Thanks, I the near future I will explore again b&w for sure :cool:

[D Akey]

And you express the purest creative intention for an artist (though not the only one) -- the willingness to reach for the top to which one is allowed in their Art. I applaud that.

I agree with you that there are times one becomes dull with merely producing the expected, good enough and safe though it may be. We see it all the time among professionals who hit on something so popular that they become trapped by it. Yet for not everyone is it a trap. To some it's having 'made it'. I'm not so sure those people were considering art as any more than a professional stature, means to financial security, almost like a business franchise. And those people have a tendency to find their 'jollies' elsewhere, if they were even looking for that level of stimulation. Different carrots for different personalities.

But anyway, about the paintings you brought forward again to show samples of your forays into creative approaches. Yeah, these look really cool.

My previous post was long and covered a number of things. So I'll bring one of those points forward that relates to this place you're at: When you come up with a new premise for a look, whether consciously thought out ahead of time, or as the result of hindsight when you see something new and interesting peeking through your experiments, isolate that trick or notion and try using it as a parameter for a whole pic. You're already doing it to some degree in these two examples. But don't leave off on it with only one pic. Right or wrong, I would identify it, and play with it further than one painting. And build up a paradigm of that kind of idea. But use something you're sure of from the previous as the hub for the whole painting from start to finish, using variations on that idea from the first stroke to the last (once you have a handle on whatever it is that you found).

So perhaps if you are using short stabs, similar to using marks that can be made with the hand as a brush with all the possible marks that could be done that way from smear with the palm, stipple with the fingertips, sweep broadly, sweep linear, glance, stamp -- all the while with an eye for design potentials. And see where that leads.

I'm only looking at what you have here and am calling out to some of what you're already alluding to. Just more ideas, more uses, and then add one other idea, but no more unless you pick up the scent for a new game. In which case you do what you need to to catch that idea.

Anyway, I'm just tossing out ideas for an approach as maybe a stimulation for your creative juices. How that manifests in you is something I will watch with interest and comment on when I'm looking at it. Like I said, I have no doubt that you have the ability to run all the way to the top levels. And I find nothing lacking in what you're expressing verbally and visually. Your logic is sound. Your spirit and curiosity and energy will continue to support your endeavor. Go Andrea go!!!!!!! Bravo!!!!!!!

[Caesar]

Outrageously excellent, dear Andrea! You're going to cauuse me an inferiority complex ...LOL:o Pardon me, but now I have to read and meditate on D Akey wise words and suggestions in here to possibly improve.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear D for the tips, in the two examples I brought while the first has a coherent style the second is a mix of styles, the first one looks good the second one looks kinda weird. The first style is the one that combines two important factors for me, it is immediate (fast) and it has a painterly look (even sculptured look in this case because of the gray scale:D), while the tiny dubs on faces do look great but they are not so immediate, there is less brushwork and overall it's more physically and mentally demanding. You have to know that sometimes after painting most part of the day in the evening while watching movies or tv shows I find myself thinking how would I paint that character in that scene. Recently it happened even at work as I was watching two people talking! Am I getting crazy or something? :D This only to say how stimulating and immersive painting can be!! Cheers and Thanks again!

Ha ha, thank you Dear Caesar :o

[copespeak]

Your black and white painting is wonderful Andrea. The stiffness option of the oil brush is such a boon in AR painting, it offers so much variation.

[justjean]

I think they both look great, Andrea. The first is lovely and classic, the second wild and free

[stevemawmv]

next painting it will be more classic, no ribbons, I want to check if I'm still able to paint accurately

Dear Andrea....You don't have to put the ribbons away forever, or is it 'Roxanne, You don't have to put on the ribbons tonight'...Anyway, I must admit I'am looking forward for your next painting in the style that you introduced to us in the beginning. But also looking forward to a continued mix of painting styles in your process of experimentation that I have grown to admire and throughly enjoy viewing.
So, Paint on...Paint on!
Take care friend,
Steve

[eighty+]

I can't Say Nuffink as I'm in Awe So Go Man I'll try to follow in your Footsteps Ok Andy STATTE BBUONO ......Si..............SI

[coops]

Love the wild brush work on these stunning pieces, great work:)

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Robyn, Jean, Steve, E+ and Coops!! :cool:

[stevemawmv]

That's it?.... just a quick thank you! And I thought I was being so clever and witty in my effort to make you stick to your promise of a painting in the classic style!......I'm just funnin' ya....Kinda!
Take care friend,
Steve

[AndreaMG]

It will be classy and classic Dear Steve, fear not my friend :cool::cool::cool: Now time to sleep tomorrow is painting day!!! :)

[AndreaMG]

Sorry Dear Steve, I guess I'm unable to paint the way I once did... This time I used high thinners settings and then I abstracted the hell out of it :rolleyes:

Click three times on image to enlarge!

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[stevemawmv]

It doesn't matter Dear friend.... This is a beautiful painting no matter what you did with your thinners and abstractions!
Love the pose and gaze of her eyes, your color picks are enhancing and directing one's eyes to exactly where the focus
of the painting should be.....the beautiful image of Avril that you've painted.
Like the new avatar friend...
Take care friend,
Steve

[Caesar]

It's a classical impressionist one, dear Andrea, and a really outstanding one.
Today realistic painting is quite often considered an accurate impressionist style where brushstrokes melt together nicely, certainly not the old classical style with dozens of velature and not even the pedantic hyperrealistic picture-like paintings of some artist.

[D Akey]

Nice new avatar by the way! Shows your skill in portraiture as well as being a really good painting. I hope the sitter didn't give you any trouble. ;)

I love your use of color accents! She looks beautiful, which with such beauties is paramount, in my opinion, at least in so far as one is trying to show what they look like (as opposed to extreme abstraction).

One of the things I like about it is that you are keeping some of your old chops but you are expanding the vocabulary used in this one. You're doing variations on a visual theme with the sizes, shapes and character of the marks and you have several themes that relate to one another.
The most apparent is the hair, in which you are relying on some of your previous long narrow sweeping strokes and I can see some of their relatives here and there in shorter versions as well. And then you have the wider stroke patches. These seem to work like counterpoint in music. It's as if you have a couple melodies playing off each other though different. For me this ads a level of visual interest. And the colors create a relationship that holds the more diverse color and value bits in relationship.

Great structure on the head as well. Very solid.

Overall, I find that this expansion has opened the door wider for us. It's like you're stretching and showing us more range in considered visual possibilities that relate. Can't wait to see more paintings as well.

Bravo! :):):):):)

[copespeak]

Another beauty Andrea. I like the way you've started with clumps of colour on the central subject, then expanding to sweeping lines, then even larger slabs on the outside. The colours are great, strong and confident.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Steve! The Avatar is me years ago, it's the photo I took for the car license. :p? Well at least her face is detailed and came out quite realistic :p, while painting I noticed that those thick outlines and the heavy brushstrokes were accentuating that look, which is kinda cool :cool: Thank you Avril for inspiring me! Take care dear friend.

Thank you Dear Caesar! I do agree with you, it's impressionistic but still has a very modern look to me. Grazie ancora e forza Roma forza Lupi :cool: SCIAU

Thank you Dear D, Glad you like my picture, now I guess I won't be mistaken for a "she" anymore :o With this one I mixed a more realistic looking style tweaking with it a little bit, it's still a bit messy but I like the result. Stay tuned because next painting will be the greatest of all and it will probably take a few weeks :cool: Ciao

Thank you Dear Robyn, you're right! I did't notice it, must be some subconscious thing X). Cheers

[pat1940]

Love your style Andrea, so alive with color, great work

[Alexandra]

I love the brush strokes, wonderful portrait, Andrea.

[justjean]

another beauty :)

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Dear Ladies :cool:

[Caesar]

Sorry to delude You, dear Andrea, but I'm since ever a supporter of the Vecchia Signora, the Juventus, simultaneosly, the queen team in Italy, the most loved and hated team in Italy and one of the only three significant international winner team in Italy with supporters spread well beyond regional and national boundaries ....;) I may like Roma, Torin, Lazio, Napoli, Fiornetina and all Italian teams when they play abroad and I'm against none though. Real competition, fair one, for us is either Milan or Inter ...:)

[AndreaMG]

Well, nobody's perfect..., even you my Dear friend ;)

[Caesar]

Right! I humbly confess to have a weakness there.
The problem is that I like to win, to keep cool and self controlled and I also appreciate a well organized club with a recognizable brand and a style; moreover I'm patriotic and grateful to the team whose players mostly supported since ever our national team successes .... some other people rather prefer to be against someone and get passionately mad, suffer and even frequently "rosicare" and look for excuses, in view of a possible satisfaction once in one or more decades (maybe when the lioness of the reserve, i.e.the zebra, is wounded by some mysteriously too selective scandal at home)... :o;)

[AndreaMG]

You must be used to walk across the streets of our beautiful Rome with your blue Avatar for sure to avoid all those "Rosicons" X) SCIAU

[Caesar]

Ah, ah LOL :D:D:D Actually since three years and from quite a longer time (we were both substantially out of the big game) there wasn't much competitions and claims of favours to us (see also penalties balance this year) to raise disputes ... Anyway I like Roma team this year and how they play . I would have expected much more pain from them (but never say never, they're still the last threat) and they did gave us a little displeasure in Coppa Italia, slightly deserving victory after all ... A pity they crushed against Napoli afterwards.
I hope You don't support Milan though, because it will take some time and considerable money to resurrect, I'm afraid, neither You trust Inter which has to work and spend some more money and time before they come back to top ranking .... but at least they had the opportunity to fully exploit and enjoy Calciopoli most favourable oucomes.;) Best wishes to both of them, especially in Europe ...

[AndreaMG]

I sympathize for the Torino, but I do respect the "Old Lady" (like the majority of Italian people, referees included :rolleyes:), besides we had common players, do you remember that highly technical player of Pasquale Bruno :D? SCIAU

[scribbledsoul]

Oh wow, amazing work! I love the palette that you used, and the "sparkle" that really makes this painting pop off the canvas. Well done! :D

[Caesar]

I fully respect the noble Torino team and I'm glad to see them finally climbing again towards the top ranking positions. I bow in front of the Grande Torino, the best Italian and possibly world football team ever. I've always been struck by the tragedy taking them away far too soon (BTW I'd send the bunch of Juve supportingr idiots desacrating that national memory in a North Korean camp for re-education) ... Moreover I studied and got my engineering laurea in Turin and worked 4 years there on combat aircraft. I had few aboriginal friends (i.e. from families Turin born since generations) supporting Torino.

[coops]

Another super painting, well done:)

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Mr Cat, Dear Caesar (Forza Toro! X) and Dear Katie :cool:

[pat1940]

Andrea, I am waiting for another painting from you lol

[gxhpainter2]

andreamg... I like where you are headed with your paintings, a very creative change to include the broad strokes of color, and some subtler strokes in the hair to transition , bold color very modern in look. I think it is difficult to blend the abstract with the realistic but you have achieved a great balance of the two.:cool::cool:

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Pat next will take some time (at the present stage is very messy :)) Thanks!

Thank you Dear Gary, I love paintings that look modern and are at some degree abstracted, if you saw that in my latest work it means that the direction I'm going is the right one! :cool:

[AndreaMG]

Hope you like this one :)

Click three times on image to enlarge!

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[stevemawmv]

I don't have any 3D glasses, but don't need any to enjoy viewing this painting!
Very well done, I like those colors and her expression and can see why the title
was chosen....does make you want to look around for some glasses.
Take care friend.....
Steve

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Dear Steve, the perspective is a bit messed up but that's the way it came out :) Take care friend

[Caesar]

This is absolutely impressive, stunning! You painted wonderfully such a charming and gorgeous girl and You really gave it also that double focal point fuzzy look of a lensesless watching of a 3D picture! Either You are naturally a little cross-eyed, like they say Vanus is, or, most likely, You have an unbelievable mastery!

[justjean]

Great pensive look on the lady's face :D

[AndreaMG]

Ha ha, thank you so much Dear Caesar, I was just experimenting X). When you paint picking colors from the reference picture (like I usually do) you tend to have a very realistic image, then at a certain point I stop doing that and begin to change things and after that the painting becomes mine more and more and this time I got something similar to the anaglyph 3d, glad that you think it so, it's pretty cool X). As you maybe noticed I did another experiment :cool::cool::cool: (hope I won't get banned for this :rolleyes:), I cropped the original picture into three sub pictures and then I posted them one after the other and the result is a BIG BIG BIG picture :cool:. Anyway here's the image at normal size. Grazie ancora Cesare e forza JUVE (e Toro)!!

Click three times on image to enlarge!

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[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Jean, I also think her pensive look came out well :o

[eighty+]

Hi Andy Smashing but how did get it threw as its so large ??? I put it in my (To be Copied List) ok ;) ;) :D :D :D :D :D :D By The Way you shouldn't

Rib Our friend Caesar about Juve you can just see his hackles Rise ;) ;) ;) :D :D :D KIA ORA STATTE BBUONO Si SI Ciao

[AndreaMG]

Ha ha, thank you Dear Eighty+ I divided the original picture into three pieces and then posted one after the other X). please Go ahead, the lady of the torch is born to be venerated and portrayed :cool: STATTE BBUONO KIA ORA CIAO

[Shezza]

I don't know where to start with the praise...beautifully painted. I will continue onwards with my vision to paint.

[copespeak]

Such a gorgeous expressive face Andrea, she's so beautiful.

I love your patchwork floor.

It's such a pleasure to open up your thread as each work is just spectacular. :cool:

[Caesar]

Another brilliant idea to get huge paintings by dividing them and Your procedure seems smart and effective (for someone having Your mastery of course). I would just suggest a little improvement. I'd rather pick colors directly from the real model (flesh and bones as we say) before starting to follow Your inspiration about her , instead than just use a still reference picture ... LOL;):o
I hope Juventus, by going on up to the Europa League Cup (though not the top one prize) may raise all Italian teams ranking so as to have more of them in European competitions, Toro too, why not?

[pat1940]

Andrea, all I can say is WOW WOW and another WOW what a fantastic painting

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Shezza for the kind words :o

Thank you Robyn :cool:. Recently I noticed I spend a lot of time picking the picture to paint, this one caught my eye because of the contrast among Avril, who is so modern looking, her classy dress and the crazy 70s carpet I tried to reproduce. So glad you liked it!!

Thank you Caesar, good suggestion, but by doing that the risk to lose my focus will might be too high :o

Thank you Pat, you so kind :cool:

[SilverO]

Ooh that looks awesome.
You paint Avril so good, love the colors you used and I really like those tiles.:D

[D Akey]

Looks great. Was looking for my 3D glasses. They're around somewhere. Will be really interesting to see if I can get that effect when wearing them. Very fun idea. The painting is of course quite good.

[gxhpainter2]

great depth and your signature bold color and brush work , so effective and creative. I love to see what you have done with each new work...:cool::cool:

[pai]

Beautiful lady and so great painting style you have :)

[eighty+]

Hi Andy. Have a look at. A artist Rattsang. On artrage website. A thick paint artist. Very good he only pops in now an again. Ok

[Caesar]

Well, dear Andrea, I thought You would deserve a little caricature too, like I used to do with most of the old friends in here and I sketched in few minutes what I got from Your tiny Avatar of Your main features. In view of finishing and painting it somehow I have to ask you whether I got Your look and likeness well enough or not, since I don't have the pleasure to know You personally.;):o

[eighty+]

looking good O Mighty One ;) :D :D :D KIA ORA

[Alexandra]

How handsome, well done, Cesare!

[Alexandra]

Also, great effects, awesome work, Andrea!

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear SilverO! :cool::cool::cool:

Thank you Dear D, I don't think they will work but I liked the effect, the more native contrast your monitor has the greater the illusion is. Thanks :cool:

Thank you Dear Gary, this painting has some depth to it, glad you noticed it! ciao

Thank you Dear Pai! :cool::cool::cool:

Thank you Dear Alexandra! :cool::cool::cool:

[AndreaMG]

Ha ha, thank you so much Dear Caesar, the resemblance is quite impressive, especially those voluptuous lips of mine :cool:. I have a personal request though, if you will do a colored version of this beautiful caricature, I would like a bit of my hair to be pink like Avril's X). Thank you again Dear mate :D

[AndreaMG]

Hello Dear E+, unfortunately I wasn't unable to find his works, could you be so kind to point me at those with a link?

Since I know that you (like me) love digital art when it's painterly and close looking to traditional oils, check out these portraits (most of them are done with Artrage, others with Painter or Photoshop). SATTE BBUONO KIA ORA CIAO

http://vladgheneli.deviantart.com/art/portrait-study-299858277
http://stevegoad.deviantart.com/art/The-Witch-338853070
http://walshj99.deviantart.com/art/Study-of-Blue-Scarf-436865142
http://predator2104.deviantart.com/art/Sitting-on-the-bed-330894782
http://michaelo.deviantart.com/art/Fall-For-Me-39110589
http://jonhodgson.deviantart.com/art/Doctor-Who-Card-Game-Amy-Pond-323874377
http://garmend.deviantart.com/art/Ballerina-146098874
http://members.artrage.com/gallery_images/9036
http://members.artrage.com/gallery_images/16806
http://alicexz.deviantart.com/art/Irene-Adler-288658367?q=boost%3Apopular%20in%3Adigitalart%2Fpa intings%2Fpeople%2Fportraits&qo=492

[Caesar]

Here's the frst version. In the meanwhile I sent Your caricature to the hair stylist to add some color. Wait a little and You'll be satisfied ....

[AndreaMG]

Ha ha, wow, thanks! X) :o:cool:

[Caesar]

... et voilà, Monsieur (o Monsu)! LOL;):o:D
I've got some additions also in the other two ongoing threads, but I cannot plac You neither among the weird creature nor among the chicks nothwithstanding such Avril inspired hair color might have partially supported the insertion in either of them ... LOL:o:D

[D Akey]

Nice tributary, Caesar. You are like a veritable river.

Thanks for the links for Mr Ploos, Andrea. I hope you don't mind that I peeked.

[AndreaMG]

No no no monsieur le coiffeur, I asked for something like this

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but instead it came out like this

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but wait maybe it will be all right after all X)

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[AndreaMG]

You're welcome Dear D, I'm happy to share those inspiring works :cool:

[AndreaMG]

Just wanted to bring here the fantastic version made by Mr E+... he might be the other me in the alternate Fringe universe :o

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[Jonquil]

I know I'm very late Andrea but you are great at realistic portraits. There is no mistaking Avril and the other two you posted. :)

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Jonquil, you're not late at all ;), more Avril's to come...:cool:

[pat1940]

Andrea, every time I check your thread it just blows me away, what fantastic paintings

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Pat :o I do love your paintings too! Hopefully tomorrow I will begin something new. Thanks again :D

[AndreaMG]

Hi Everyone,
two more portraits. I tried on both to stay as much coherent as possible (thanks Dear D for the precious tips!:cool:). With the first one I got a little carried away :cool:

Click three times on image to enlarge!

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Here's the second one. I used a slightly different technique on it...

Click three times on image to enlarge!

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Thanks for watching!!!

[D Akey]

Wow! Andrea these are really creative. I almost think this kind of painting could start or revive a fashion trend. I'm thinking of David Bowie and Adam Ant and going 'Flash' as they used to term it.

I could really see women using face paint as make-up in certain contexts as a way to draw attention and make a fashion statement -- not a political one, but a beauty one -- 'body as art' sort of statements. A lot less permanent than tattoos as well so it could change all the time.

I also think of some African tribes that give a whole new meaning to decorating the body.
Just as an illustration of where some have taken it:
http://thelittlelighthousekeeper.blogspot.com/2010/04/macaulay-culkin-and-i-share-bond.html

Anyway, I think you're inspired. I believe that your love of depicting beauty is going to take you into some amazing places in your art without it becoming negative. I always see lots of admiration for the human form in your work and that's a great guide for exploration into areas that are 'out there'.

These two are really cool. I think your sense of broad, bold color remains tasteful and harmonious though hinting at the spirited, unconventional abandon of someone freshly attending a rave party the first time or two before it becomes a point of dissipation. Interesting balance. It sort of hits on jet set glamor and fashion while slumming it as well -- something accessible to any girl anywhere (used to be like dressing like Madonna and Cindi Lauper a couple or three decades back, or hippies, or flappers in the roaring 20s etc).

So it seems as if you're going for more than a paint style. I think you're going for a deeper character essence where the surface is just the tip of the iceberg about the artistic flair that is just welling up from inside.

Go man go! Great stuff.

[stevemawmv]

Pretty wild stuff, definitely honing in on your own style! Really enjoying these...Great stuff!
Take care,
Steve

[Caesar]

I see You're quite monogamic with your lady paintings dear Andrea! Excellent couple of artpieces again!

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear D, I do like a lot body painting on african tribes or native americans (just to cite two great cultures). When you have something that is already that beautiful it's fun to play with it. Sometimes an image is so glam that everything you try (even the most ridiculous idea) can work, that's maybe because our brain interprets thing depending on the contest. In particular I find that make up is really enhanced and amplified by oils, maybe because you are painting something that is already painted. About the eighties I do love that style a lot too, you mentioned David Bowie, you will surely remember Daryl Hannah in Blade Runner (our mutual friend Steve sure does :D), what a hair style and make up!! P.S. In the first painting I replicated on her face the silly mark she had on the set of "Rock 'n Roll" video :cool:. Thanks again Dear D for your kind words :cool: If you're interested here's the link of a very talented artist that I find really inspiring https://www.facebook.com/LarrivaArt

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[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Dear Steve :cool::cool::cool:

Haha, thanks Dear Caesar, you have to know that sometimes ago when I painted another lady she got really mad... Now in order to be forgiven I have to portray her over and over again, but it's ok :cool:

[Caesar]

Ah, I see: Damnatio memoriae! :eek::o;)LOL Ain't it funny that we two, Italians, speak to each other in English? ...:confused::rolleyes::p I know, too lazy to add translation too the benefit of the few billion people who cannot either speak Italian anymore or as yet, apart from some words at the restaurant or playing music or painting ...LOL:D

[AndreaMG]

E' vero caro Cesare, ma noi siamo cittadini del mondo :cool:. Pensa che a forza di vedere qualsiasi film/episodio Tv in lingua inglese, giocare a videogiochi in inglese, navigare in internet in siti in lingua inglese, leggere riviste in inglese, frequentare forum in inglese, ascoltare musica in inglese, etc. mi è capitato più di una volta di sognare in inglese! Per fortuna e' una lingua che mi piace e poi permette di capirsi un po' con chiunque anche se però l'italiano è sempre la lingua più bella del mondo, a volte anche un po' maltrattata, più di una volta ho visto (anzi meglio, ascoltato) in film americani ambientati in Italia, attori, presumo italo americani, che recitavano dialoghi con un italiano sgangheratissimo che farebbe impallidire addirittura Diego Abatantuono versione Attila Flagello di Dio :D Ciau e grazie ancora per i complimenti e forza Juve (e Toro)! :cool:

[D Akey]

And I'll have a cappuccino al dente. . .

[Caesar]

Tutto vero, caro B]Andrea[/B]. Io ho sempre amato imparare le lingue e ci ero portato. Mi piaceva molto l'inglese in particolare (anche nello slang americano), ma anche il francese che facevo a scuola e da ragazzo andavo in stazione a comprare giornali e giornalini stranieri. Poi ho cercato di imparae e usare un minimo di swahili quando sono stato un paio di mesi in Tanzania, infine il tedesco da "anziano". E' un modo per entrare in maggior empatia con gente di altri paesi, però mi addolora vedere l'italiano trascurato, male impiegato, striminzito e stentato, in estinzione perché, come affermava anche un egiziano copto direttore in Hughes Space di un paio di decenni fa, l'italiano è la lingua più bella, dolce e musicale del mondo (se non fai rock immagino). L'italiano che si conosce all'estero sono solo suoni folcloristici semidialettali e scorretti, un po' come le foto di Napoli e il Vesuvio, la pizza e il mandolino e non si considera che la figlia maggiore del Latino è la lingua su cui, fra l'altro, si è maggiormente innervata la rinascita di tutta Europa e quindi dell'Occidente, ahimé.
Daje Toro, che la Juve è già lì lì ...

[hildee]

Between I don't have anything against traicing but all my work is done only by looking from reference images

Tracing in AR is a little (maybe a lot) different from other programs. It's not cloning. It takes a lot of work but it's so satisfying. It picks up the colours but not easily. I do a rough first then go in for the details. Like yours, I've done quite a few over 8 hours. Give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

Love your Avril! :D

[Alexandra]

Wonderful work, great style, Andrea, I would love to try this.

[SCP]

Great work like your style on your latest painting.:cool:;)

[pai]

Love the first one very much, the smile really shows her expression very well and your style of bold color and brush strokes. Beautiful :)

[AndreaMG]

And I'll have a cappuccino al dente. . .
:o:D:p:cool::):p:cool:

[AndreaMG]

Dear Caesar you're right, it's up to us to defend it and keep it in good health :cool: A proposito di italiano/romanesco forbito: Ammazza oh quante lingue che sai! :cool: Sicau

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear hildee, yes I've tried the tracing function in Artrage using oils on my ipad, it's impressive and produces a very realistic result yet maintaining a painterly look. I prefer painting traditionally but in the future I think I will try that again or even a photo manipulation with AR. Your horses are awesome! :cool:

Thank you Dear Alexandra, give it a try, portrait painting is addictive :cool:

Thank you Dear SCP, I do agree with you ;)

Thank you Dear Pai, I like them both, but in the first one I particularly like the matching color of the eyes with other green areas of the painting.

[Caesar]

Beh, "as sa mai", ma ormai il limitatissimo swahili è ormai ridotto a poche parole ed espressioni e il tedesco in particolare (appreso in tarda età) arrugginito e da riverniciare per bene .... In compenso ora so un pochino, pochino di spagnolo che mi viene dall'aver sentito il mio secondo figlio studiarlo alle medie .... ma non è poi un'impresa.

[D Akey]

EGO reputo narro in Italiano recedentia quoque vulgar ut oratio Caesar. Nos "should" exsisto praesagium nostrum ineo in putus lingua de Roma. Totus via plumbum ut Rome. Totus lacuna huic thread plumbum ut Caesar, presertim civis de Roma. Gratia reddo meus populus ut orator ut Roma, EGO bulla III annus in altus schola. Sic EGO dedi meus culpas si meus lingua est nondum oiled per olives. Valetudo vobis, quod salve Caesar etcetera, etcetera.

Oh, quod vestri paintings vultus valde Andrea.

-----------

Nadhani akizungumza katika Italia mbali pia vulgar wakati akihutubia Caesar. Tunapaswa kuwasilisha maoni yetu katika lugha safi ya Roma. Barabara zote kusababisha Roma. Maneno yote katika thread hii kusababisha Kaisari, raia mkuu wa Roma. Ili kuwakilisha watu wangu kama balozi wa Roma, mimi alisoma miaka mitatu katika shule ya sekondari. Basi, mimi kutoa msamaha wangu kama ulimi wangu bado mafuta mengi na mizeituni. Afya na wewe, na mvua ya mawe Kaisari, nakadhalika nakadhalika.

Oh, na picha za kuchora yako kuangalia kubwa, Andrea.

------------

Νομίζω ότι μιλώντας στην Ιταλική πολύ χυδαίο όταν απευθυνόμενος Ιούλιος Καίσαρας. Εμείς πρέπει να παρουσιάσουμε τις παρατηρήσεις μας για την καθαρή γλώσσα της Ρώμης. Όλοι οι δρόμοι οδηγούν στη Ρώμη. Όλες οι λέξεις σε αυτό το νήμα οδηγούν σε Ιούλιος Καίσαρας, επικεφαλής πολίτης της Ρώμης. Προκειμένου να εκπροσωπεί τους ανθρώπους μου ως πρεσβευτής στη Ρώμη, σπούδασα τρία χρόνια στο γυμνάσιο. Γι' αυτό και ζητώ συγγνώμη εάν δεν εκφράζομαι δεν έχει ακόμη λαδώνονται από ελιές. Υγεία σε εσάς, και χαλάζι, Ιούλιος Καίσαρας, αγαπημένοι, αγαπημένοι.

Ωχ, και πίνακες ζωγραφικής σας είναι υπέροχα, Αντρέα.

[AndreaMG]

Oh, quod vestri paintings vultus valde Andrea..
Hope my Latin teacher won't read this :rolleyes: :

Ago tibi gratias Dilecte D. Ave Cesare! :D

[AndreaMG]

Beh, "as sa mai", ma ormai il limitatissimo swahili è ormai ridotto a poche parole ed espressioni e il tedesco in particolare (appreso in tarda età) arrugginito e da riverniciare per bene .... In compenso ora so un pochino, pochino di spagnolo che mi viene dall'aver sentito il mio secondo figlio studiarlo alle medie .... ma non è poi un'impresa.
I learned the basics of Spanish in its Argentina version at university, really beautiful language and so close to ours. Mach's gut! ^^

[D Akey]

Interesting. I know there are lots of Italian, Spanish and German immigrants who settled Argentina but my comparison of language isn't so subtle and I only know some Spanish (at which I'm pretty rusty). I do remember envying a Frenchman who happened to be taking Spanish in a college class I was in. We all thought he had an unfair advantage because he could pretty much coast through without studying at all because French and Spanish were very close. The teacher shrugged and said that it didn't matter because he could handle the material with ease because of what he came into the class knowing (French) and that's part of life. I take it that Italian and Spanish are pretty close as well. Must be nice having so many languages closely related to your mother tongue. But you and Caesar are amazing with English as well I must say. You seem to get jokes and word play very handily.

[justjean]

Just found your last two paintings way back and I really like the second version :D

[Caesar]

Your Modern Greek and Swahili work well, dear D Akey, Your Latin apparently more likely than correct and meaningful, just to use a litotes, an understatement. LOL:p:o;)

You're right, it's a great advantage we all "Latins" share, Italians, French, Spanish and Portuiguese speaking people, to be able to learn each other language quite naturally, as a different dialect and English as simpler, fairly derivative communication code. Our Latin evolved language all share a signifcnt part of the "structure" of that ancient language Latin was, only part of that marvellous device, expression machire and engine which was: precise, concise, rich, practical, sophisticated ... together with ancient greek, a natural enhancer for logics, mathematics, engineering, culture most likely very much connected to the deep frame and mechanisms of how our brain works for communicating concepts, actions, feelings etc.

In our exchane, Andrea and myself found that although we share with the world our global citizenship in English (mayebe chinese tomorrow) Italian, the only one risking perhaps a premature extinction, should be preserved and reinforced because is a far too important language to be considered just in terms of speaking population and secondary to no other language not only for past unique merits, too often no more known, for all Western civilization growth in any discipline, but also because of its design, harmony, beauty, sound, poetry etc. which shoudn't be lost to the world.
It's not at all the ridiculous, picturesque caricature onf the mafia-like language of too many movies abroad, but the language which naturally produced and still produce, against all odds, so many geniuses, artists, scientists, inventors, musicians, great artisans, navigators, poets etc.
Its features are: elegance, measure, clarity, musicality, expressivity , of sentiments, feelings, empathy and every moti dell'anima e dell'intelletto (soul and intellect movements). Actually no other language could work as a real substitute, least a common communication code founded on a trading, pragmatic and somehow empyrical base which wouldn't correspond to a different essence and culture of a different cultural "empire" and way of being.

[D Akey]

Yes, it's a beautiful language. I personally have a bias for understanding what is being communicated, so if that's English, great, Italian, also great so long as I get the meaning and subtlety is also a bonus. The actual sound of spoken words, I have to say that I'm more like an animal who probably can tell more from the tone of voice than the actual words. And if I like what the person is saying, great. If not, a pretty sounding language is not going to improve anything. I just wish picking up languages was easy for me. At this age it's challenging especially when I don't have someone to speak it with me on a regular basis.

Anyway, you're quite right. Italian should not disappear, though I doubt it would, at least not for many many generations, same as English. English as you know changes constantly as slang gets into common use. And so many sub-groups have their own way of speaking/singing etc. And then there's the jumble that happens when languages influence each other in common practice, like when a particular word exists in one but not the other. But that word is very precise so everybody starts using it. And of course technical jargon has another force on it all.

Interesting. :rolleyes::D:cool:

[AndreaMG]

Interesting. I know there are lots of Italian, Spanish and German immigrants who settled Argentina but my comparison of language isn't so subtle and I only know some Spanish (at which I'm pretty rusty). I do remember envying a Frenchman who happened to be taking Spanish in a college class I was in. We all thought he had an unfair advantage because he could pretty much coast through without studying at all because French and Spanish were very close. The teacher shrugged and said that it didn't matter because he could handle the material with ease because of what he came into the class knowing (French) and that's part of life. I take it that Italian and Spanish are pretty close as well. Must be nice having so many languages closely related to your mother tongue. But you and Caesar are amazing with English as well I must say. You seem to get jokes and word play very handily.
The Spanish spoken in Argentina is somewhat "sweeter sounding than Spanish and actually very close to Italian. As far as English I do as best as I can, even though sometimes I struggle a bit. Thank you ^^

[AndreaMG]

Just found your last two paintings way back and I really like the second version :D
Thank you Dear Jean, I also like the second one because of the gaze and the smile. Thank you!

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Caesar X)

Origin: http://forums.artrage.com/showthread.php?46683-Caesar-s-feminine-characters-ongoing-thread-%28last-addition-as-of-April-the-17th%29/page6

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[AndreaMG]

Number one of three Rihanna paintings :)

♪ ...Take me for a ride, ride
Oh baby, take me high, high
Let me make you first, first
Oh make it last all night, night
Take me for a ride, ride
Oh baby, take me high, high
Let me make you first, first
Make it last all night... ♫

Click three times on image to enlarge!

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[eighty+]

Hi Andy like the way U splash colour around :D:D and the Detail amazing ;) :D :D :D :D :D :D :D KIA ORA STATTE BBUONO...Si.........Si

[gxhpainter2]

AndreaMG...love the background brush work and the figure of Rihanna..and the concept of paper doll...but I will confess that that shade of mint green with that red in Channel and the background is very jarring... maybe that was the intent, or your just exploring new color relationships ? Usually when some shakes up my idea of a painting it leads to something good... it happened when I first saw a Miro, and works by Klee... so it is not necessarily a bad thing... can't wait to see the next two !. :cool::cool::cool:

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear E+, you know me, I like to splash it! And for the brief time I went traditional I literally scattered it all around the house! ;) STATTE BBUONO and KIA ORA

Thanks Dear Gary. It is sort of wanted; I like the contrast between something closely related to reality (the background and her silhoutte and something completely off (the solid colors), besides I like a lot surf green (I'm a Fender guy :cool:) and the red and if you add the white you will get the Italian flag :o. Those marks that pops so much tend to give the impression as if the figure was cut from somewhere else and then put into the scene. One thing I like is her left elbow that is over the green area giving the impression that she is in some sort of fourth dimensional space, and the red "C" in "CHANEL" is hinting at that. Next one (almost finished) is way more classical and sugary :cool: Cheers

[gxhpainter2]

Thank you Dear E+, you know me, I like to splash it! And for the brief time I went traditional I literally scattered it all around the house! ;) STATTE BBUONO and KIA ORA

Thanks Dear Gary. It is sort of wanted; I like the contrast between something closely related to reality (the background and her silhoutte and something completely off (the solid colors), besides I like a lot surf green (I'm a Fender guy :cool:) and the red and if you add the white you will get the Italian flag :o. Those marks that pops so much tend to give the impression as if the figure was cut from somewhere else and then put into the scene. One thing I like is her left elbow that is over the green area giving the impression that she is in some sort of fourth dimensional space, and the red "C" in "CHANEL" is hinting at that. Next one (almost finished) is way more classical and sugary :cool: Cheers AndreaMG, thanks for the explanation I now have more appreciation for this design / painting... I see now where you were heading with it... thanks :):)

[stevemawmv]

Dear Andrea,
One hot image of a very attractive woman....she's a bit controversial, ahhh..sometimes, but aren't we all! Looking forward to the next two, this is a great starter for the set....definitely your style my friend.
Love it!
Thought that green strummed a chord with me...Haha! Strat's and Tele's, I have nine all togather, from 1959 to 1981...yeah I know 'can only play one at a time, They're just so beautiful...like your paintings, and sometimes works of art need to be on walls....not hidden away in closets.
Again....thanks for your best wishes for my upcoming surgery...looks as if I'll have company...our dear friend D Akey will be joining me.... not in the same 'O.R.' though... and besides I haven't found a civilian Hospital that have 'Two for one specials'....
Take care friend,
Steve

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Dear Steve. Best wishes to both of you and D! Everything will go just fine, but do not watch youtube videos anymore, let do the professionals their work, do not think about it. You'll be brand new in a jiffy ;) You have a '59 Fender?!? You're so lucky! I had several tellies (I remember the one with the Bigsby waiting a ton X). Now I only have one, it is an American Deluxe which I completely sanded and repainted with just a couple of coats to make it resonate better, then I installed a Glendale plate, a Nocaster pick up at the bridge and a Gibson Burstbuker ('59 replica humbucker) at the neck. It sounds like a dream... too bad I'm not so good :cool: Take care Dear friend, I will be waiting for you.

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[justjean]

Your paper doll looks great but sure not the kind I remember from a kid :D

[Caesar]

Dear Andrea, I see You're going to play soon another serenade to Rihanna (You painted wonderfully although You didn't emphasize all her most famous and successful parts) LOL :o;) so as to get Avril jealous and mad about it. Good strategy! I only wonder what Your fiancée, wife, partner, concubine or whatever else, politically correctly stated, thinks of Your passion for such hard to compete against icons ...:rolleyes::confused:;)

[coops]

Great painting, well done:)

[AndreaMG]

Haha, thank you Dear Jean, this must be the rated R version.

Haha, thank you Dear Caesar, but I thought her greatest asset was her voice :o I'm not taken so don't have to worry about that, besides women are not jealous on superstars because they know that we are dreamers with zero chances :p Alè Juve (e Toro)! Ciau ne e non mangiare troppa colomba!

Thank you Dear Coops, for your kind words and the fantastic galley!!

PS Just found out a beautiful poster of the movie "Jules et Jim" by François Truffaut with a terrific "paper doll" effect, might try something like that with AR... really inspiring :)

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[D Akey]

Thanks for the well wishes Andrea!

I do love that tele. The best of both worlds with the humbucker and single coil. The one I have of this style is a G&L ASAT. It's essentially a telecaster with pickups for the hard of hearing. Leo Fender sold his company way back when and after the 'no compete' time ran out, he co-started G&L. And this time he really went for super hot pickups -- basically because he was losing his hearing and he wanted to hear the guitars good and loud. So for normal humans it's super piercing, which is probably good in a band setting, and/or if you're really good at lead. My strat by comparison is sweet sounding but far more pleasant for playing rhythm with some fills. And I have a Les Paul studio that I haven't used a lot yet. But that's going to change as I get into fuller sounding 70s-80s music a bit more.

Did you find that changing the finish on a solid body made that much of a difference? I'm going to be sanding down an acoustic I have so as to get it sounding better. It's fairly cheap so if it doesn't improve, no big deal.

Right, so as to your find on Jules and Jim. Nice. Looks like an old paperback cover. Same compositional elements and 60s feel. Looks like the artist mixed a whole lot of different techniques including incorporating some photographic work on the face. Maybe not, but maybe so. Looks like a photo that was doctored and tinted or painted behind an image on a transparency.

Anyway, as to your doll pic -- you have a remarkable facility for finding the key features in each image you do and exploiting it. The sweeping nature of the painted outline swaths is bold yet it really emphasizes the variation on the classical counterpoise stance -- only it's really got a modern feel. It feels trendy and pop, and avant garde -- the kind of image one might see on an underground magazine cover where they give the artist carte blanche to do whatever they want. I think that avant garde feel is suddenly an association I hadn't made before but it seems to be emerging, at least in this pic.

Go man go!

[coops]

Hey I just bought a jacket like that one but in a different colour, Great painting:)

[AndreaMG]

You're welcome Dear friend, hope that everything will go for the best, but I'm sure it will ;)

Thanks for the Tele, you surely have nice guitars too. I didn't know about Leo and G&L, behind everything there's always a story ;) Actually I do hear and most of all feel the difference, you can clearly feel it vibrates in your chest a lot more as you play and besides I never liked guitars that look and feel like glossy candies :p After sanding down you acoustic guitar you will notice improvements depending on how thick the actual finish is... I'd say give it a go, besides it's fun (remember to wear a mask though).

Jules and Jim poster is cool, isn't it? I think only the face is a photo, her hands seem painted, it surely is a mixed media product that looks so classy and avant guard at the same time, you're so right!

Thank you for the compliments Dear D they do fuel my engine as well as your precious tips do!:cool:


Dear Katie, the jacket with those oversized buttons is what cught my eyes, nice choice! Cheers

[vandra]

Fantastic work. Really enjoyed looking, thanks.

[Caesar]

I like how You "treated" the movie poster. Very artful and fine!

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Vandra!! :o

Thank you Dear Caesar, but unfortunately the poster isn't mine :o, I posted it because it has a great paperdoll effect to it ;) Ciau ne

[pat1940]

Some wonderful paintings Andrea, always a joy to view

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Pat!!! :cool::cool::cool:

[AndreaMG]

Second Rihanna portrait X)

Click three times on image to enlarge!

Version #1

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Version #2

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[eighty+]

Hi Andy good to see your useing the oil brush gettin towards Rattsang I might try and copy the 1st one for the pratice ok as me and the oil brush gat into a right state

KIA ORA STATTE BBUONO...Si...............Si

[copespeak]

Love all those big splashy confident strokes. She's such a beautiful girl with those dreamy eyes.

[coops]

Really like the first one Andrea but both are great:)

[gxhpainter2]

AndreaMG, very interesting work the first one has more brush work evident in the face ( I really admire your ability to capture skin tones and form ) and stylized hair , the second while a smoother finish to the face has a more abstract or energetic direction, it seems to me like you are stretching your artistic vision into some new aesthetic language. I feel like we get to witness our artistic metamorphosis ...exciting stuff!

[D Akey]

Interesting. It's as if I'm looking at a mandala or one of those ornate pattern filigree which includes faces. Only this clearly is about this particular woman. The color and composition emphasizes that. Only it's innovative. Nice work. Certainly tasteful colors.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear E+, sure go for it :cool: Kia Ora and STATTE BBUONO :p

Thank you Dear Gary for the kind words :cool:, actually I use the color picker in the first stage to speed up things and to remain faithful to the essence of the reference, but later on I pick my own colors to highlight some aspects, to try new looks, etc.

Thank you Dear Katie, the first one is my fav too, but you know me, I had to do the crazy version too :o

Thank you Dear Robyn, she is beautiful indeed, a pleasure to portrait her.

Thank you DearD :cool:, third one incoming and it will be different style wise.

[justjean]

The first one looks great :D

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Jean :cool::cool::cool:

[AndreaMG]

Made with instant dry always turned on. Hope you like it ;)

Click three times on image to enlarge!

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[justjean]

Yes, it's great , love the shades of gray and the attitude in her expression :)

[eighty+]

As the Man said I think her Eye's are to far apart ;) yes Andy I like it and those wordsyou just Quoited are what enabled me to do you Gals Hair thank you CIAO STATTE BBUONO Si....Si

[silvy]

Great portrait!:D

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Dear Jean, Eighty and Silvia! :cool:

[copespeak]

Unusual black and white, and your tonal choices are just right Andrea. :)

[D Akey]

She looks very natural, which is often far removed from a mosaic look. All the quality and character of personality that anyone could want is there. I wonder is this could be considered analogous to what MP3 compression does for audio files. What the MP3 process does as I understand it is to simplify the wave forms and group related bits into a constant (the size and duration of which is dependent upon the amount of compression). It seems to me then the fun for you would be to edit the natural photographic image way down but in clever ways where you can still retain all the essence.

Anyway, I love the pose and expression you have retained. If I may ask, what for you is the mark of artistry that you seek to focus on -- your signature participation in the image, as it were? Every artist is about personal interpretation, and there are those who noodle in every bit in painstaking exactitude in honor of the full naturalness, and there are those who seek to find the important bits and having opened up room for their participation in it, they dance around inserting their own interpretation in combination with the sitter/photo or whatever source.

This seems to be something different from either of those, which feels more graphic in character.

Were you backing away from a decorative form to have a starting point upon which to add your flourishes? So this is a matter of looking for that essence as a rehearsal?

Go man go!

[Caesar]

OMG! Rihanna too became like Medusa, with snakey hair and a magnificent mesmerizing glance! Let's call Perseus pls to lend us his reflective shield on this beauty!

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Dear Robyn, D and Caesar!! :cool::cool:

Dear D, being a sort of hand made posterization sure is some sort of compression of the original picture (like mp3 does), but in music you lose some information and gain nothing less (only lighter files) while subtracting information in painting you add something to the mix (at least I hope :o). It's the reference picture that suggests me what to do, this one was black and white and It came out with a graphic look, but my goal I think is to paint something which looks unmistakably real but is such a way that the paint is also unmistakably better to the eyes than the source :o.

I tweaked it for a more "8-bit look" just for fun ^^

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And here's the original...

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[D Akey]

Excellent comment. Very clear about your intention and I very much have to admire your concept.

I'm also glad you uploaded the source photo so I could in fact see what you did, and make the comparison about looking better or enhancing the image through reduction -- and YES! hahaha. She looks more appealing in your painting, for all her photographic beauty. She may not agree because she's rather invested in what she looks like in life. But everybody else will delight in what you do.

In a way, it seems to me you are like a visualizer much the same as a storyboard artist is for a director planning the optimal way to tell a story, you're doing that planning for a future appearance of female beauty. When you nail it, you can tell the girls one of the forms Beauty plays out in and they'll eat it up. Novel and effective. Rihanna looks in the photo like a very beautiful woman. You're going for 'Goddess' by stripping away her mortality.

Go man go!

[AndreaMG]

Thank you again Dear D :cool:. "You're going for 'Goddess' by stripping away her mortality"... I like it!! Since ancient popes and emperors' era painters were called to portrait and celebrate their power and beauty thus giving them the illusion of immortality, that's true even today! I love your sentence so much because I think it says it all in such a powerful yet elegant way. I will put it in my signature to be forever there if you don't mind ;)! Cheers

[Caesar]

Does it mean that You got a quite miserable form of immortality I'm guilty for because of my poor portrait of You with pink hair, dear Andrea? OMG! I would not forgive myself for it! :eek:...:o Forza Toro now! Juventus has only one or two national championship records left to be established in the next couple of matches ...:rolleyes:

[AndreaMG]

Haha you're right Dear Caesar, poor me people from the future will think (in the best-case scenario) that I was a bit eccentric :) Did you really go to Tokyo on vacation? Did you like it? Did you go to Kyoto too? And the hot springs? And the Ghe... err sorry :rolleyes:... Man I'm so jealous (sto a rosica' :D). Speruma bin per il Toro ma complimenti comunque per la Juve anche se Conte oggi ho letto che non sa se resta. Ciau ne

[D Akey]

I'm flattered beyond words, Andrea. . . those words which you are certainly welcome to. So I'll turn to the emote-icon smileys to express, and this comes from the heart: :):):):):D:cool::cool::cool:

Incidentally, when I was composing that post you're commenting on, I had written this loooong reply which I deleted mostly, and what you saw and responded to is what made the cut. 85% was vaporized. Sometimes it takes considerable experimentation for someone writing, and not just for those painting. Thanks for the great compliment. It was simply mirroring back to you what you yourself communicated.

They say that to be a good creator, you have to be willing to sacrifice your children. Deleting long passages is not so difficult when you at last bypass the rubbish and finally get around to what you mean to say. Thanks for keying in on it. Made all that other stuff that got tossed worth the time because even though I tried, I couldn't have in a more direct way. So it's not just painters who experiment.

Go man go!

Cheers!

[pai]

Really like that black and white kind of mosaic look. Beautiful :)

[Caesar]

.... secondo me Conte sta solo facendo un po' il prezioso per avere i giocatori che vuole e guadagnare di più (come merita) anche se non ha forse centrato gli obiettivi minimi Europei con quanto consegue, in soldi, per la Juve ... Le lunghe vacanze giapponesi sono nate da un equivoco in realtà, ma sai quanto costa la vita in Giappone? Una fortuna e, dato che non posso inventare riunioni di lavoro lì, non avendo tanti soldi da sperperare e un quartetto come famiglia, non ci penso proprio ... Daje TORO e magari lasciamo l'Inter a casa per un altro anno, che, pur non essendosi poi rivelata immacolata, di benefici (scudetti, ex juventini etc.) e annate facili senza competizione ne ha avuti fin troppi da calciopoli.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much again Dear D!!! :):):) Let me know if you'll ever write a book, I will surely buy it! ciao

Thank you Dear Pai for the kind words ;)

Haha, yes you're right Dear Caesar, Japan is crazy expensive, maybe in the future you will go there, who knows? Forza Toro and Juve! Ciau alla prossima

[byroncallas]

Terrific work throughout this thread. Wonderful excursion.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you for your kind words Byroncallas :cool:

[AndreaMG]

New one ^^

Click three times on image to enlarge!

80897

[MKROOT]

Great gallery. Great painting. :)

[silvy]

Great texture and colors. I really like this faceted painting and ...what eyes!!!:cool: seem sapphires:)

[D Akey]

Outstanding! I really like the variety of marks in this one. I even like the blue accent on her jaw. Unusual placement but it serves like something of a beauty mark drawing attention to the face. It also feels as if the really nice lattice of long strokes in the garment and hair smooth out the closer to the center of the picture we get -- where her eyes are like the eye of a hurricane. It's subtler than that and this painting is very much about the lady than the metaphor but it's a cool effect to use and it implies interpretations that the viewer may or may not run with. It works great as a depiction of a girl, and only on that level. But the implications are there for anyone who cares to run with that.

Nice job. Very good integration of marks. :D

[copespeak]

She is so lovely Andrea! I love those chucks of strong colour chipped into her face, very skilfully done, and just gorgeous! :cool:

[pai]

Oh, your last portrait made me think of Red Riding Hood. Great style ! :)

[justjean]

The lady in red is lovely, Andrea

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much MKROOT :cool: Pozdrawiam

Thank you Dear Silvia, mi hai fatto venire in mente quello che dice negli Aristogatti Romeo a Duchessa: "l'occhi tua so du zaffiri splendenti..." :cool:

Thank you Dear D, on this one I used less the color picker and experimented a bit more on colors. "Her eyes are like the eye of a hurricane", I like it! Yes sir they are :cool:

Thank you Dear Robyn, I like to make faces more interesting by adding color marks :cool:

Thank you Dear Pai, this is my second (unofficial) Red Riding Hood painting I guess :cool:

Thank you Dear Jean, glad you like it :cool:

[coops]

Another wonderful painting, well done:)

[Caesar]

Another marvellous specimen of Yours, I'd say.
You're a real master with these portraits, but in these days you should perhaps add a beard too to add to charm. LOL:o;)
It looks like the so-called third-sex is very popular in these days in song contests, as it was once on the melodramma and opera stages. Well actually there isn't a third sex anatomically and biologically, rather as sensitivity and sexual preference and attitude, apart few cases, notwithstanding surgical and hormonal adjustments or beyond attires, but it looks like that political correctness requires we believe it to be considered tolerant, which is a quite strange and somehow sad adjective, since we should respect and even love any human being anyway. :rolleyes::)

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Dear Katie :cool::cool::cool:

Thank you so much Dear Caesar. That's why I barely watch TV these days, everything is sooooooooo sad, yesterday there was the singing nun, now the dude with the make up and the beard, next there will be a giant panda singing, a ridatece Albano e Romina o i Ricchi e Poveri ! Ciau ne e forza Toro per l'Europa!

[stevemawmv]

Really like this painting, fantastic technique on the eyes and love the colors chosen for the overall piece. At first seeing the image I had a sense of all the details being vividly projected out at me...but even with that I still wanting to scroll around and view every square inch of the canvas.
Beautifully done my friend, and to me its success is proven by the fact that if I viewed this painting anywhere else I would instantly recognize it as one of your works!
Congrats my friend!
Take care,
Steve

[silvy]

....

Thank you Dear Silvia, mi hai fatto venire in mente quello che dice negli Aristogatti Romeo a Duchessa: "l'occhi tua so du zaffiri splendenti..." :cool:
...:

Ah ah:D:D:D Proprio vero, un grande doppiaggio per 'er mejo del colosseo'

[AndreaMG]

Thank you so much Dear Steve!!!!!!!! :cool::cool::cool:

Non ho ancora visto la versione in lingua originale cara Silvia ma il Romeo de Roma è troppo forte! :cool:

[Caesar]

... e del resto ce lo vedete un Romeo de Pariggi? Là invece de un gatto romantico ce stava uno Str....auss Kahn e se sa, tra gatti e can nun c'è accordo. Mo' daje Toro in Europa, che noi della Juve je avemo già dato (Roma inclusa);)!

[AndreaMG]

Aho ccai raggione Romeo ha da esse de Roma! :) Ciau ne

[byroncallas]

Well, I LOVE the new one. :)

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Byron, tomorrow I'll post a slightly different version of it.

[AndreaMG]

Tweaked a bit last one...

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Here's an experimental one ^^

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Click on images to enlarge!

Thanks for watching ;)

[stevemawmv]

Love your Tweaking of the first queen and find the experimental one to be fantastic with the effect given it. Pulsating with vibrant color and life..... Really, really like it.....very nice job my friend!
Take care,
Steve

[MKROOT]

Great, I like it :)

[D Akey]

I love the second one. That array of colors is like a prismatic aura -- very eye catching and beautiful. And it seems like a reference to the old school veils that women wore way back when. But it seems quite modern and inventive. So it seems to me to have the element of Time telescoped in on one painting. It gives her a timelessness. Consider the old Kirilian photography which shows energy emanating from an organic source. At one point they experimented with a leaf cutting part of it away and shooting it again. And the original shape where the other part of the leaf was joined was still present as if it was still there. And it's been suggested that full shape held the code for that organism. Ultimately it faded and disappeared. But for a time it remained.

So consider for a moment that there might exist such an imprint for the Soul. And that the physical form conforms in some way to that throughout various incarnations where certain characteristics would be present. The implications are wide ranging, fanciful or not. Being an artist is about ideas after all. Seems to me that Soul imprint could represent immortality of sorts. And to me it looks in this painting like it is holding a special energy for a goddess to come into a mortal form with all the limitations that a physical form would have.

Google Images for: "Kirilian Photography" -- my linking didn't work.

As to the re-worked one, it's fine. I think it feels heavier than the first one which seems more delicate. For example, her nose is drawing more attention, for good or ill. She feels more like a naturally dark complected girl having dyed her hair blonde as often seen with Latinas. And that's not a criticism. It's just the impression it gives me owing to more contrast.

Anyway, I very much enjoyed these. Great work as ever.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Steve my friend. Cheers :D

Thank you Dear MKROOT :cool:

Thank you Dear D, I like the tweaked version because her hair look like fire and ashes but you know my latest baby is the one I prefer too :cool: I didn't know that effect... cool :o Something which reminds old school that is fresh and modern... that's what I'm after! So glad I came close with this one ;)

[gxhpainter2]

AndreaMG... wow two very fine paintings!.. I like the way you are beginning to work more color and brush work into the faces and it integrates well with the rest of the painting... the second is really a big move forward I think and portrays a very strong personality and talented painting.... very very well done.:cool::cool::cool:

[copespeak]

Such lovely work Andrea. It's always a joy to see your latest one(s)! :)

[Alexandra]

Andrea, wonderful techniques, very beautiful work!

[pai]

I love the second one a lot, the color works so well with her expression. Beautiful Andrea :)

[YoannLori]

Stunning work Andrea. Congrats ! :)

[silvy]

The last one is really gorgeous:cool::cool:

[Caesar]

Another couple of marvellous, shining portraits. I waited some time before makinh any commet to let You elaborate the mourning for Toro's bad luck at the very last minute ...:( Ciau né? Mi dispiace, ma al prossimo anno farete cose ancora migliori.

[kenmo]

Very nice....:cool::cool::cool:

[D Akey]

Another couple of marvellous, shining portraits. I waited some time before makinh any commet to let You elaborate the mourning for Toro's bad luck at the very last minute ...:( Ciau né? Mi dispiace, ma al prossimo anno farete cose ancora migliori.

Yeah. Tough luck indeed. Well, the race is not just the driver. Let's all hope for machines that perform perfectly!

[byroncallas]

Stunning work. Beautiful really.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Gary, you're quite right, I feel more comfortable now about colors, I used to think that shapes are the most important thing but lately I discovered that colors are a key ingredient too (it might sound obvious but it wasn't so to me :p)

Thank you Dear Robyn for the support!

Thank you Dear Alexandra for the kind words :o

Thank you Dear Pai , I'm beginning to understand how things work with colors (I'm self-taught :o)

Merci beaucoup Dear YoannLori :cool:

Thank you Dear Silvia! Ciau ne

Thank you Dear Cesare for the compliments! Mannaggia al Toro e alla sfiga che ci perseguita sempre, almeno siamo diventati competitivi, speriamo la prossima stagione di vincere almeno un derby :cool:. Ciau ne

Thank you Dear Kenmo for the kind words :o

Thank you Dear Byroncallas!!!!!!!!! Ciao :cool:

[AndreaMG]

As to the re-worked one, it's fine. I think it feels heavier than the first one which seems more delicate. For example, her nose is drawing more attention, for good or ill. She feels more like a naturally dark complected girl having dyed her hair blonde as often seen with Latinas. And that's not a criticism. It's just the impression it gives me owing to more contrast.

Anyway, I very much enjoyed these. Great work as ever.

Thank you Dear D for the feedback, you're perfectly right, the tweaked version for certain aspects was a bit messy and I made things even worse by enhancing the contrast in post-production :cool:. Anyways I tweaked it again following your precious remarks. Thanks again ;)

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[gxhpainter2]

like the re tweak... the faceted knife work and tweaks of color to the face ..almost a cubist vision rethought. for a very cool modern look..:cool::cool:

[copespeak]

All those beautiful chunky squares. Just gorgeous and vibrant!

[stevemawmv]

Dear Andrea,
I liked the second tweak because it has a viabrate quality to it, this last one, to me, is reminiscence of a 20th century portrait...all very nice, all very different.
And in saying that.....I've enjoyed viewing all three 'Queen of Hearts one' paintings.
Take care friend,
Steve

[D Akey]

She's a polished beautifully faceted diamond now! Wow! I opened this page and BAM! You nailed it!

I like all the changes you made and saw the struggle but of course had no idea where you were going to take it. The end result is brilliant. It's a celebration of geometric angles through which we're seeing softness and femininity. It's incongruous, yet the freshness and deliberate quality you got into this one really is seeing something quite appealing for the first time.

I think the new thing in this series that makes this work is that your color mixing is really clean and subtle, where you've expanded your descriptive vocabulary, but it's not such a jump from one value and color to another all over the place. So there's all the brushwork from before, only this is smoother and the angularity is there, only it flows. And it's a neat "trick"! Bravo!

Like I say it's akin to a polished gemstone or diamond, which of course carries all the associations beautiful women and the diamond have between them.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you again Dear Gary for your kind words :o

Thank you again Dear Robyn, square power :o

Thank you again Dear Steve my friend for your support, hope to see more from you soon.

Thank you again Dear D for your guidance and your lovely comment ^^

[MKROOT]

Great work :)

[Caesar]

I got enchanted by Your last portrait and almost felt like Stendhal (under his syndrome attack, I mean). :eek::p:cool:
I don't know if I discovered a main trick You masterfully use, but it looks like you use also color loaded hard blending knife. Am I completely wrong?
Affare fatto! OK per il derby, prendetene pure uno, ma fateci fuori Roma e Napoli in cambio quando li affronterete!

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear MKROOT :cool::cool::cool:

Thank you Dear Caesar, you're right, I used the loaded knife, here is how I do it: first with brushes and the knife tool I create the base which must be fairly accurate in terms of both color and value, then I choose the zones where to apply those squares, this is a bit tricky though because you're biginning to abstract things and you have to pay attention to the overal look and you have also to pick the color of the loaded knife wisley since it will at the same time mix and blend the colors underneath. Forza Toro e Juve. Ciau ne

[Caesar]

I wonder how You would look in a self potrait with this style then ...:rolleyes:

[AndreaMG]

Haha, better not, besides I like as it is, a perfect cresima look like photo with a faint saint aura as you rightfully pointed out sometime ago my dear friend :p

[coops]

Another super painting Andrea:)

[AndreaMG]

Another super thank you Dear Katie :cool:

[AndreaMG]

Just for fun ^^

81147

Click on image to enlarge!

[stevemawmv]

'Avril Lisa'.....Love it! Beautifully done and fun.....Blows me away!
Love that hair and how the background fits so perfectly.
Also love her eyes and lips....just like another painting I admire.
Take care,
Steve

[D Akey]

I'm with Steve. The associations with Mona Lisa are there to my eye as well. . . however, I love the chiseled stroke technique and her hair is wonderful, as if her hair has cascades of rainbows. It's interesting also that from this I get the notion that they used in old movies and books too probably, that to show someone as being immortal, to see multiple portraits done over the centuries of the same person -- different contexts, different styles of clothing and make-up, different artist's hands, etc. Feels like you're playing with her for sure, creating a mystique. Super painting as always, and innovative too.

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Steve, the background is actually Leonardo's only scaled and manipulated by me, I think it integrates with the portrait well too, actually at the beginning that wasn't the idea but her stance were reminding of something so I decided to add it later on and integrate it. "Av-Lisa" haha I like it. Thanks for the nice words and for stopping by. Take care Dear friend ^^

Thank you Dear D, glad you find her hair interesting, it is still difficult for me to render it properly. Thanks for commenting and for you kind words :o

[gxhpainter2]

AndreaMG another nifty painting... I agree with Steve the eyes , nose and mouth are so well done. Painting a beautiful woman.. and then the shift to the prismatic background and colors in the hair set up a shimmering cubist effect... I hope you have some way to print these out so you can see them on a canvas or paper and framed... they really take on a different aspect when seen that way over just view on a monitor..:):):cool::cool::cool:

[nascal]

Amazing :) how can i draw like you. I love her smile so much

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear Gary for the compliments. I like to watch my previous paintings on my ipad, when I will upgrade to a retina display I think I will enjoy them even more, as for printing I never tried but I'm not sure about that, I'd like to see a painting machine operating by replicating exactly all the brushstrokes with real paint simply by loading the Artrage file though :cool:

Thank you Dear Nascal, you are really talented IMHO so I'm pretty sure you can do even better :cool:

[MeggerzTouch]

Your artwork is so amazing and beautiful! there were some pieces that didn't look like they were digitally made at all! but I am going to have to say that your 'Avril Lisa' is by far my favorite! I LOVE how you did her hair. Amazing job! *two thumbs up!* :D

[Caesar]

The wondering Gioconda, here, master Leonandreaa! An exquisite painting again!
For the mates in here "La Gioconda" (The Jocund (Lady), should I translate if it didn't refer to his husband family name) is how we rather call "Mona Lisa" here in Italy, (BTW Monna Lisa for us Italian, maybe also because mona is a bad word in Venitian dialect ...LOL:o;))

[YoannLori]

Great painting once again ! :)

[kenmo]

Very nice...love the use of textures and your choice of brushes....

[silvy]

Really lovely this Avril Lisa:)

[AndreaMG]

Thank you Dear MeggerzTouch, if some my work looks like trad painting to you that's the graatest compliment to me and Artrage too :cool:

Thank you Dear Caesar, haha "mona" besides the equivalent of pirla also means another thing in friulano (which I speak a little because of my granpa and granma) :D

Thank you Dear YoannLori for the compliments :cool:

Thank you Dear kenmo, textures and brushstrokes are a key ingredient, so glad you like it :cool:

Thank you Dear Silvy, Avril Lisa says "thanks" too :cool:

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR VISITING OR COMMENTING, THE COUNT IS OVER 20.000!!!! :cool::cool::cool::cool:

[Caesar]

Yo no ablo furlan o ladino, je regrette .... but in veneto xe una bela spelonca ciò .... :o;) Penitenziagite!:eek::p