![Black children oil portrait, painting of two ebony girls](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vF7sPVHiE3t_vuywIHt6SLlVJQus8s3nRISdIUvX6FdNVFs7Prmdw3QIns7gnT1KjrCeoaohx-g_P0alfDwbh-XaCQCUJ_iotHaET8PKOL_3-_vo-HDouXDjIx5kbPvxzotns=s0-d)
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.