Which Chair
 

Now, I may be foolish for using the reference photo of this little girl, but for some reason I'm drawn to it and must give it a try. However, the orignal chair she was in was boring. So I've found two other options for chairs. I'm not sure which one is best. I like the thin black lines of the black one, but I'm wondering if the canvas is too small to support this chair. The brown chair is fine but it leaves me that upper right corner to do some vertical thing with and I'd have to go find something vertical to put there.
Any suggestions?
The value study of the little girl is not quite finished.
Thanks in advance!

Also, the seat of the brown chair does continue to the left edge of the canvas. I got crazy with the eraser in photoshop.

Hi Brenda -

I vote for no. two. I feel that it fits the subject better and doesn' t distract like all the lines in the larger chair do.

oh darn.
I just finished putting in the black chair. I think if I make the background dark (her dress is white), it will be all right. Hmm. Maybe I ought to change it.

Thank you for your vote, Julie!
I think I will let it dry now and tomorrow darken the background and see how it is. If it's still too overpowering I'll change it. (But there is something about the over-powering that I like.)

Sharon Knettle,
This was all drawn freehand. ;)

Hi!

Maybe you could chop off part of the chair. You could: A) Omit everything above the arch B) omit A plus omit the verticle lines on that part of the back C) omit all of that and have a straighter, lower back. I have sloppily illustrated C in photoshop, below (hope you don't mind).

I do have a chair like this with a small shape on the back and if you like I can e-mail you a photo of it. Good luck with the painting, I'm sure it will be lovely!

Here it is like "A."

Hi Lacey,

I like "A". That's what I was thinking about doing, but I am in love with those lines above the arch. Here is where I have to be ruthless I suppose. The chair is rather unusual and I love it for that (it's a cross between a Queen Anne and a Windsor--kind of the Quaker version). But I think that because one doesn't see the whole chair, those spindles above the arch are just odd.
Oh well. I'll have to use this chair in it's entirety in another painting.
I think I will probably end up going with "A". But I'll sleep on it first.
Thanks!

Hi Brenda,

Whichever chair you use make sure that her elbow is not floating, but touches the arm of the chair. Hope that helps!

Thank you, Enzie!
I still have to unify the lights and adjust a few things. And the more I look at the chair I see I need to adjust the arm of it a bit. I will remember to "connect" her arm and the chair arm. Thank you for the heads up!

I like this #8 version if the arm lean could be seen a little from above at a slightly diagonal angle pointing downward.

Allan

Okay, I've slept on it and I'm going with "A".

Allan, I think I understand what you're saying. I think this will be accomplished by curving the arm of the chair more toward the viewer instead of going so much to the side as it does now. I will have to do a better job of explaining where her left knee is under her dress and bringing that turned spindle toward the viewer a bit more too.
Thank you all so much for your help and input!
I'll post it when I've fixed those things.

I love this chair!
(just thought I'd share that.) :D

I like the first chair, and I'd omit the bars above the arch.

Yes, I am a bit cloudy now and then.
I

Hi Allan,
Yes, that is what I thought you meant.
Ok, Michele, the bars above the arch are history.
And sorry about the big font OOPS; I thought I was making the font smaller.

The more I look at this after the changes, the more I feel this chair is wrong. I'm changing the chair and her left arm and hand.

Brenda,

Good for you!

This is a trick I have used for children which I have mentioned before.

I have a blow-up of the picture of the child I am painting on foam-core or cardboard next to my easel on my right, then I have the child sit as best as she or he can in the same light and pose. The photo is referred to as the 'good' child and the wiggly sitter is referred to as 'the evil twin'. You get the color reference from the child and the drawing from the photo.

The painting of the child in the ballet skirt was done this way. The impish quality of the girl would have been totally lost, I feel, working only from the photo.

Strange, that's how I invisioned it as well. Doing away with the verticles that run off of the top edge, that is.

Thanks, Max.
I have tried everything in the world and am still not happy with this comp. I appreciate everyone's input. I have changed the composition quite a bit. It felt like we were seeing just enough of a chair for it to be an important compositional element but not enough of the chair to be truly satisfying and unifying.
I took new photos of the model and have something that I think will be more easy on the eyes.
I'll post it in WIP soon. Thanks, again, everyone! I've learned a few things by this one!

I do not want anyone to feel that their input hasn't been heeded. On the contrary, that is why I started from scratch again. I think this is a stronger composition, as long as I keep the darks dark and the lights light. Right now I am applying layers of color, trying to keep the whole thing unified at first.
I'll post this and the reference photo in WIP soon.
Again, thank you all for helping me to rethink the composition.