Home Stretch

Victory is within reach at last. While this portrait has its flaws, I am finally becoming convinced I will finish it without screwing it up (this perfectionist's worst fear). Really, this whole thing has been as much about conquering my perfectionism as it has been about creating a piece of art. The other thing it is about is the fact that my hands don't shake any more, which is a great help. I have always had shaky hands ("essential tremor" in the words of my doctor) which I inherited from my beloved grandfather. I always assumed I was stuck with it and with the effects it had on my drawing, painting, and lampworking. My mom urged me to check with my doctor, which it had never occurred to me to do, and she was able to prescribe beta blockers which immediately stilled the shaking. This is the first really ambitious thing I have done since then, and I feel like it has made a big difference. Thanks, Mom! Now I'm trying to figure out if I need to deepen the color on the pillow. Tasj thinks it is deep enough. I am not sure. I don't want to go too dark, but my tendency is ever and always to avoid dark darks and light lights. I always have too many midtones, in other words. I'm interested in other people's opinions. There's time, since I have some monkeying around to do before the next step. I am going to photocopy the work in color onto regular paper and try different background colors for behind Twickie's head. I am thinking about rose or gold to contrast with the blue. BTW, I used the slate blue from Twickie's fur for the pillow, which is giving the drawing a nice unified look. A slightly blue-toned rose may be the way to go. I thought about grey, but that just seems wrong. It's going to be a simple gradient behind her head. I don't want to distract from her face by including the window or anything else like that, besides which that is more complicated than what I am ready to do right now. I'd be delighted to have opinions, like I said, so comment away.