Jake, 14"x11", oil on linen

Jake volunteered to pose for the second time this term in place of Tatiana, who couldn't pose for us on her scheduled date due to a work schedule conflict. When he posed the first time in May, I wasn't able to participate, so it was an opportunity for me to catch up. Thanks, Jake!

In this painting, I wanted to pay particular attention to variation of the edges. I tried to carefully discern various edge qualities and avoid any unnecessarily hard edges. Painting a profile against a dark background, it was an interesting challenge to maintain a careful hierarchy of the edges.

In the end, I managed to keep the most of the edges soft and avoid a hard, chiseled appearance. More often than not, when I paint a profile, I tend to be quite drawn to the hard edges of the silhouette, which in itself isn't always a bad thing.

Also, to go along with an overall soft appearance, I downplayed, and even eliminated, a few very strong highlights on his temple, cheekbone and nose.


Maybe because of my care to keep the edges soft, in the painting Jake appears younger than he actually is, with a boyish look.