Please critique portrait of child
 

Please take a look. I must deliver in a few days. Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated. Portrait is 24 x 30 oil on linen.

Thanks.

photo reference. First scan of portrait is much too dark. I will try to lighten it. Those flowers are not that Blue!

Hope this scan is a little better. Need to get out the book I ordered on Adobe Photoshop and read it!

Hi, Alicia!

There is something about the face that has an angry look about it. I think maybe it has something to do with the roundness of the face. I could not see the close up on the computer to tell what it is exactly. It needs more of an overall softness.

By the way I am in Tickfaw, Louisiana. Born and raised in Pumpkin Center. My email address is [email protected]. We should get together!

Beautiful painting!
Rebecca

Rebecca,

There's a whole history on this Forum behind the resource material for this portrait. Take a look at http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...=&threadid=873.

AHHH! I see now. Thanks, Cynthia!

Alicia,

My 2 year old has two poses for pictures. The first is the "Don't aim that thing at me again!" The other is a huge big tooth smile! Neither is appropriate for our chosen sport! The painting is really beautiful, but I still miss a little of the roundness of this face. It could just be a distortion of the computer monitor though. I always run a piece of inkjet transparency through my printer with a print out of the reference photo at the same size as the face on the canvas and lay it over my completely dry painting (messed up a pretty good painting by not waiting long enough once). You can see right through and correct slight differences that you ordinarily would not notice! They sell it at Office Max in Hammond.

Happy Painting!
Rebecca

Thanks Rebecca,

I see you read all about it. The mother insisted on this particular photo. I like the painting and she does have a pensive look on her face. I know the scan is somewhat distorted especially in the close up and the colors on the larger photo don't ring true on the monitor. I'll try your suggestion and see if that helps.

Yes, we will have to get together. Are you hiding back in the woods somewhere? I am sure we have a lot to talk about. I look forward to meeting you. Do you know Linda Vise? She lives in Loranger and is a wonderful portrait artist. She is also a friend. Thanks again.

And, Linda is also on SOG: http://www.portraitartist.com/vise/vise.htm

Alicia,

I would soften the eyebrows and eliminate the shadow above the brow on our right. This should reduce the worried look.

The blue flower furthest to our right looks as though it rests on her neck and the leaves/mulch on the right looks like a brown spot of some sort. I don't think you need it.

All in all, a good painting.

After reading Jim's post, I went into Photoshop and did a little redo in that area, and I think he is right about the eyebrow. It made a lot of difference! It amazes me the difference a little thing like that could make.

I have visited Ms. Linda before my husband fell off a building, and broke both arms and a leg. I have wanted to go back but have not had time yet. She gave me great advice!

I would love to take classes with her. My five year-old starts kindergarten this year so I will have more time!

I'll have to treat you to lunch one day. It will be fun to talk to someone who shares the interest in portraiture.

Thanks again, Cynthia, for providing ALL of this for us. I'm not sure you will ever know how much we all appreciate you!

Rebecca

Thank you Rebecca (blush)!

Thanks Jim,

The worried look was bothering me, too. I was going strictly by the photo, but I softened the eyebrows and took away the shadow over the right eye (image) and also did away with the flower nearest her face. I think it is a big improvement. Thanks for the great advice. My Photoshop is sick right now but I will attach the improved photo ASAP.

Jim,

Here are the sugested corrections. I think it is MUCH BETTER. What do you think?

Cynthia,

Rebecca is right, and I am a Southern girl who has forgotten her manners. Thanks to Rebecca for stating something I think we all feel on the Forum. The advice we get here is invaluable and we owe it all to you. The Forum has even led me to a new friend and from the sound of it, another one here in my own backyard.

My sincere thanks.

;) Rebecca,

Lunch sounds great. Why don't you email me and we can exchange phone numbers, etc.? I love your dancers.

Wow, what a difference! Those guys are good aren't they? I would make one comment: the ear could be softened a bit, where the dark center of the ear meets the light and runs veritical - it seems a little sharp to me. Maybe a softer transition?

Hello Prince of Darkness,

You must be busy painting; I haven't seen you in print lately and I really do miss you. I think you have the "gift of the gab" and enjoy hearing what you have to say. Always makes me chuckle.

Thanks for taking a look. The scan is a little dark, but I will take a look at the ear to see if I can soften it a bit. I like the hair, think I am getting a bit better with hair.

Alicia,

I have been gone for a week or so. Actually I have been quite verbose over in the photo section where I posted some of my photos from San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize C.A. That's a mouthful, huh?

Now I'm feeling a little pressure to make you chuckle, so here goes. I return Thursday night late from Central America having spent a week without any disruption to my constitution, if you know what I mean. Friday for lunch I'm looking forward to a familiar meal at my fav local greasy spoon. Well, let's just say I haven't left the house since. It seems that the local cuisine has accomplished what 7 days in a third world country could not. That makes me chuckle, off and on, if you know what I mean.

BTW I've dropped that Prince of Darkness thing, that guy scared me.

Mike,

That was good for more than a chuckle, that was good for an outright belly laugh. Sorry, though, that your local favorites did a number on you. You must do some diving, as those are prime diving locations. Not that I venture down under myself, but I used to work for a guy who was an avid diver and those were some of his favorite dive spots.

I did see your posts and pictures after I mailed you. Beautiful pictures, by the way. The bikini shot is lovely, she is quite a lovely model. Ok, no more POD jokes, we don't want him coming after you. Hope you are able to leave the house soon and I'd reconsider my local restaurant choices if I were you. :o

I think the painting is moving along in a good direction. However, the light source is from the viewer

I love the slightly angry expression on the child's face. I think this portrait is top notch. I love the colors and the child. Don't change anything. My daughter , many years ago, looked just like that. She's not angry, she's "discerning".

;) Thanks Linda,

She is a beautiful child and very much loved by her family. I think she looks like she is thinking more so than she is angry. I have to say though, that by lightening the shadow over her eye and softening the eyebrows as Jim Riley suggested, softened her face a bit and I like it better.

Her mother told me that that is how she looks most of the time. A discerning beauty. Thank you for the compliments - they are much appreciated.

Marvin,

Thanks for the suggestion. One of the problems I had with this outdoor photo is that light seemed to be coming from both the right and the left and in the photo, her face is slightly darker on the viewer's right side.

Light bounces everywhere in an outdoor photo. Did you get my e-mail regarding the glaze?

Thanks.

If at first you don't make your point
 

I don't think I got my point across. One picture is worth...

By emphasizing (lightening) the top planes and de-emphasizing (lowering) the reflected light values you can achieve a more structural head. Reflected lights are best achieved by using color changes and keeping the shadow values intact.

Alicia,

I'm very new to this Forum, but I recently posted a portrait of a little girl whose expression is every bit as anxious the little girl in your posting. I happen to love that look and I hope you don't erase it entirely. There are so many children's portraits out there that are perfectly sweet but border on the trite and innocuous side. Your picture, however, is so personal and full of character. My only suggestion is to add a bit more rose color on her forhead just above her brows to echo more closely the color of her cheeks. I really like this portrait.

:exclamati Marvin,

Thanks, I get the picture! Values are hard for me to read from a photograph.

Carrie,

Welcome to the Forum. I know you will gain as much from it as I do. I'm glad you like my portrait and I appreciate your comments.

The face looks a bit long from the eyes to the mouth. This measurement is crucial in the age of this child. The slightest elongation ages the child a few months.

I would avoid using umber on a child. It drags down the rosiness.

Alicia, this is a lovely portrait and is very true to the reference photo. I would prefer to have seen somewhat more serenity in her face, because to the uninitiated the expression does read as angry. But since it is their child, they have a history behind that look and it's probably quite meaningful for them. Sometimes the expression I would prefer for a portrait sends a totally different message to the client than it does to me, and if I don't know the subject well I have to respect the client's judgment.

Rebecca, your suggestion about printing a transparency borders on genius. I struggled mightily with a posthumous portrait from a 1940's sepia photo reference, and could not figure out what might be off in comparing the reference with the painting. Upside down and every other way the pictures looked exactly the same, but somehow they read differently when I viewed them side by side. Possibly this was simply because I was adding depth and color to a very flat picture. I don't know. The client was thrilled with the picture, but I still wonder.

In my efforts to check my finished portrait I tried using tracing paper to compare proportions and the lines of the forehead and jaw, but it was too opaque. I was even thinking of adding a projector to my studio tools for situations like these. I had no idea that transparency paper existed. You wouldn't even have to print the exact size of the painting, since it could be held up at the proper distance; that would have been sufficient in my case to point out any errors. Thanks for the idea.

Thanks, Leslie.

I did soften the forhead a bit from the photo. I would have preferred a smiling picture, but had to comply with the client's wishes. You can see the other photos in the photo critique section.

I can't wait to try the transparancy trick myself.

Adorable! They are going to love this!

I would love to see the finished painting after the eyebrow correction suggested by Jim Riley. That is an area so critical to expression, I fuss with it repeatedly in all my portraits!

I agree that it is our job as portraitists to go beyond the "snapshot" to create a classic tribute. That is where, I believe, we really must deviate at times from the information in our photo sources unless we got exactly the right stuff from the start.

Great painting!

Thanks Jeanine,

The second posting of her face in closeup is the corrected version that Jim suggested. I took out the flower near her head and erased the furrow over her (our right) brow. I left the one over her other eye. The painting has been delivered and they do love it.

Thanks again for your compliments.

Just my humble 2 cents! After comparing the painting with the photo, I believe I found the problem with the expression.

The angle of attack of her right eye seems too steep, then the curve above her left eye, where it is dipping, you seem to have it raising.

Again just my humble opinion; otherwise, great painting.

Mark

Thanks, Mark.

Welcome to the Forum. I delivered this painting weeks ago. It was a struggle because of the expression she had, but the parents loved it. Appreciate the comments.

There's an invaluable book available (probably on this site) by Gary Faigin, called The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ex...&Search=Search

The information in that book will help you solve just about every problem with expressions in a portrait that you run across. It has saved my hide more than once!

Thanks, Michele.

I actually have that book. I bought it a few years ago and had really forgotten about it. I'll have to resurrect it and go through it again.