Hi Virginia,

My comments are probably moot since you have decided to go ahead and paint from this photo - I agree with Sharon. I have painted from problem photos like this in the past and have never been able to overcome the shortcomings of the resource material. Now I know not to try.

Suggestions for the future - it would be beter for the body to be oblique to the viewer than straight on - her body is at the broadest, most static angle that there is. I agree with your initial assessment the chair is too much for her, especially as her position way to one side of the seat makes her seem as if she thinks it is too.

There is no light/shadow information to let you make the face appear three-dimensional. As to worrying about appearing unprofessional, I think the professional thing would be to tell the client that you have been working out some compositional ideas/color studies, and that you wish to take additional photographs in order to support the painting in its most successful fashion.

In addition to not cutting off the chair, I think you need more room around the chair, perhaps some foliage in from of one side of it, in order to avoid the canvas feeling crowded.

Good luck!

PS You also seem to have qute a bit of photo disortion in the front of the arms of the chair - stand back further and zoom in. The distortion I think contributes to the feeling that she is dwarfed by the chair.

EXCELLENT advice!!!

O.K. Here is the situation. I haven't started yet because I am waiting for the clients to measure the space where the painting will hang and get back with me on how much room I have. The client lives in Mississippi. I will be going back to their location this summer. Would it be professional of me to say I would like to take more photos then? The subject of the painting will be a year older. Suppose they can just say 'no' and go with the one I have or cancel all together. I really want to do a good job on this one because there is potential for more business. Ugh!

Take new pictures, show them the old ones and the new ones and tell them which ones you think are better and why. Then let them decide.

It is usual to collect a non-refundable 1/3 to 1/2 of the fee before starting. This ensures more client cooperation and they are less likely to jerk you around.

Brilliant professional portrait painters in the past as Sargent would do a head over at least a dozen times. Many times after working for weeks, he would rip down the canvas and start anew. Do you think his clientele thought him unprofessional?

Also it would give you a good chance to rouge the child's cheeks and lips. This prevents a pasty look in the painting. It would also give you a great opportunity to do a quick color study from life which would help with the final painting. You could also change the color of the dress or add some desperately needed color accents, even spray paint the chair if they would let you.

One of the most important things about being a portrait painter is to realize that YOU are the one holding the brush and stop being intimidated by the clients. If you have a strong vision of just what the painting should be, you are in a better position to sell it to the client. After all if they picked you on the basis of what they have seen of your work, they should be encouraged to trust your taste and judgment.

I love a tinker too, I hope you dont mind. I came up with this for what its worth :D .
By controlling your values you could make this wonderful I think.
Good luck with whatever course you take!

The lack of light-shadow contrast is definitely the most obvious problem. I'm assuming that, by now, this commission is completed. But I wanted to talk in general about a situation in which the artist takes reference photos, the client chooses the best one, and then later the artist has second thoughts about using the reference.

I'm not so sure. Of course it is embarrassing to go back and say you've changed your mind, or you had second thoughts. But if the portrait isn't as good as it might have been because of the poor lighting, then that also could be seen as "unprofessional." I'm speaking in general here, not about you in particular, Virginia, or about your clients. I've been in a couple of situations where the client started out wanting a certain thing, and I even painted the entire portrait, then I felt dissatisfied with it. I told the clients, who then decided they had been too intrusive in the process (they hadn't been, really, and I assured them they hadn't) and gave me absolute freedom to compose a new portrait, which I did. I didn't charge any more, just took a whole new set of reference photos. The second portrait made us all happy.

Many clients are fine if you explain that you strive for excellence and, you would like to re-take the reference photos. I think most people would respect a solid work ethic and in most cases would not see this as "unprofessional" if you explained it this way.

Whoops, I didn't see this last page. I guess, philosophically speaking, many of us are on the same page!

Erik,

As much as I am a fan of yours, I do think your take is a bit claustrophobic. It does however, lend another phycological element to it that could be compelling and add another level of meaning to this work.

That said, I must say the frilly side of me misses the design of the curved elements.