An oil portrait in progress of two 'ebony' girls. You can see the progression from first application of oil on the right to the almost completed portrait on the left. I usually like to allow the painting to dry between reworkings (I work with fast-drying 'Duo' water based oils.) For myself, painting effective black skin tones is a matter of recording correct color reflection as much as capturing tone. African-American skin tones are both reflective and nuanced.
Not the Obama girls, but just by coincidence I do have a commission in progress of a large portrait of Michelle, Sasha and Malia Ann, which I'll post soon.
