Janice & Yalexy

Not too long ago I posted about the Facebook ‘Pay it Forward’ initiative I participated in.  And not too long ago I also finished the second of the surprises: I made a portrait of my friend Janice and her husband Yalexy. I quickly sifted through a few Facebook photographs until I settled on this one:

They both look so happy in this photo and it seemed like it would make a nice portrait.

The first attempt didn’t go so well:

Yikes! Time to start over…

The second attempt was much more successful.

I really struggle with portraits, so I don’t attempt them very often. Yalexy’s eyes were very difficult to capture, I think I erased and redrew them at least four times. When I look at the portrait on it’s own it seems good enough, but when the original photo and the portrait are compared side by side I feel there is a lot of room for improvement. The general shape of both their heads seem a little off, and Yalexy’s gaze appears a little cross eyed. Both of their hair gave me quite a bit of trouble too. But overall I would have to say I’m pretty happy with it. Although I think I am done with portraits for the next little while…

Framed and ready to go:

Happy New Year to anyone reading this post!!