Leighton's "Biodina" head study progress

Hectic Month

It's been such a busy month for me that I had a very little time to paint. I thought I'd post the work I've done as part of the WetCanvas Portrait Challenge. I've fallen in love with the reference so much that couldn't resist giving it a shot. It's an absolute masterpiece of old masters, in my opinion. Unfortunately I don't recall the artist's name. It's beautifally painted. The girl's face is so unique that I haven't seen anything like it. It turned to be quite a challenge for me! I believe it'd take masterful skill to create a perfect replica of this work, and I'm definitely not at that level yet. All in all, it's been an amazing learning experience.

The first image is the reference itself:

Below are 1) my attempt, 2) head study

I've decided to submit an entry to the WetCanvas' February Portrait Challenge, eventhough my canvas was way too small for the subject. Here's the result.

20cm X 30cm

oil on stretched canvas

some of my paintings