It's all in the eyes

I've been doing a lot of these portraits lately, and I find that what I really strive to copy is the emotion in it. I want to copy the nuances and details that make a photo stand out to me, to the point of wanting to paint it. For me what makes portraits so appealing is the emotion in the eyes, and I find that I have been focusing on them more than any other part of the portrait; trying to capture the soul of the individual.
The reference for this one was taken from google but sadly they didn't link to a photographer or the model.

Hope you like it!

Accidents Happen

Here I was, trying something a bit different for my portraits by using reference and changing it in a very peculiar way, so they wouldn't just be study-copies. Eventually the end result was the first image here.

However, somewhere along the way I started playing with color a little too much, and it evolved into something very different. At first I was hesitant about it because it looked cool, but the expression didn't match the mood of the painting at all, so I tweaked it a bit to make it fit.

I'll have to try that style again with another portrait because it was a lot of fun.