Colette
 

Here's Colette, 36" x 30," oil on linen.

Sometimes my glazes will assert differently in digital copies...

This is very fine. I like the compositional synergy between her arms and hands and the back of the couch. Great expression too.

Best regards--T

Alex,
it's a beautiful painting, this blue is so dark and luminous at the same time.
I love the way you handle the high lights in the hair. And the composition works so well ( a good lesson for me)

Thank you, Tom and Marina!

I had the composition in mind for a while before I found the right person. The dip in the sofa, I thought, would be a great place for a head, and the curlicue on the left side of the sofa made a good ending, like punctuation. Then I realized her stretched-out arms and bunch of folded fingers worked so well with the sofa lines. I wanted her face to glow and emerge from the darkness. These things all came together finally, and Colette was a great model.

Beautiful painting. Her expression is great....and those folded hands are marvellous!!

David

Alexandra,

She has real presence and life. The freckles are great and give her a real kid-like reality. She just looks like she is ready to leap off the couch and climb a tree.

Her skin-tones are lovely , the composition and design, refreshing.

I like this one very much, Alex, and I especially like the nice touches such as the halation off the western shoulder. I love the pose, too. Can we please see a closeup of those hands?

Alex, it's lovely. I'm struggling with doing better compositions, and felt a lot better after reading your take on your own, because it almost precisely echoed my own thoughts after viewing it. One other thought - I love the heart-like feel of those dips in the sofa, which go well with this beautiful Valentine of a painting.

Sharon: Thank you--coming from you, the master of composition and color, that is truly a compliment. I've wanted to paint Colette's face since she was about two or three, so I finally decided now was the time before she lost that look.

Linda, thanks, but I can't top your magnificent head and I'm not going to try. As soon as I get a moment in the next day or two I'll try to get a good shot of the hands, I promise!

Julie, that's a lovely thought about the heart shape of the sofa back. Thank you for mentioning it, and for your thoughts on the composition, which I have to admit fascinated me and occupied my thoughts long before I started this painting. In fact I was so into the idea, I was afraid it wouldn't work!

Alex,
 

This is just scrumptious. What an adorable little girl and a wonderful mood to this. I love it!

Alex, this is lovely and Im totally jealous of the skill you used to pull off those freckles!

Alex, I really like this, such a witty expression.
Beautiful light too! a
As I was discussing somwhere else on the forum, being photographed is often the worst thing that can happen to a painting.
I am sure we are missing a lot on your work, but at least we can appreciate the great composition
Many thanks for posting
Ilaria

Thanks All!

Molly, how nice that you dropped in--I've been missing you and wondering how you are doing at Marvin's workshop. Glad you like this

Kim, stop it, you can paint any kind of skin! No need to be the least bit jealous. though you are sweet to say so.

Ilaria, The light was fun--very cool and silvery. Now that I think of it, you often paint cool light, too. Maybe I was inspired by your work. I'm glad you like her expression.

Since I posted this I started a minor remodeling job on Colette and I got carried away repainting parts of her face and hands--which explains, Linda, why I have not posted a closeup of the hands yet. The photographer forgot to take closeups, so I'm taking it back to get them done, and I'm going to mention the freckles issue and see if she can't get the closeups more true-to-life. I'll post the new photos when I have them.

New images--remodeling job!
 

Just wanted to let you alll know that Colette has undergone changes which you can view in the first post. The new images show some subtle remodeling of the face contours on the left side of the painting. I got a little carried away and worked a little on the highlights. I think these photos show the skin colors and freckles much more accurately, so I'm deleting the earlier photos. Soon I'll have a closeup of the hands.

This is a stunning portrait! The extremely cool paint in the chin area makes it very unique as well.

Very, very lovely. Congratulations!

Chris, sorry for the long delay in thanking you. So many good portraits have been posted recently and I kind of forgot about this, and about Linda's request to see a closeup of the hands.

Mark, thank you also. There was so much cool light, direct and reflected, in Colette's face especially. Very interesting to paint.

I just got the rest of my slides back. Somehow the photographer does a much better job than I can do even using my digital camera. I really appreciate all the nice, encouraging things you said!

Here are the hands:

Hi Alex--
Don't know how I missed this the first time around! It is so fresh and beautifully done! Those hands are spectacular. I too especially enjoy the way you've used the cools in her flesh tones. A real treat!

Terri, thank you! I really appreciate your taking the time to comment, especially on a painting that's been hanging around for a while. Glad you like the hands. I consider that a valuable compliment coming from you--you do children's hands so beautifully.

Alex, this is absolutely stunning! I love what you do with paint and love your stile. I hope you don't mind but I do have a suggestion. The background does not do this lovely girl justice. Again I look at the sofa and compare it to the background and come up with the same thing. They do not belong. One more qualm. More hear body, in the lights, above the bangs.

Sincere regards,
mischa

I must apologize, everyone and admit, I did not notice that this was in unveiling. Alex, I hope my comments will be accepted as positive feed back.

Sincere regards,
mischa

Mischa, I'm awfully glad you realized it, because one of the moderators' more unpleasant (and in my case dreaded) tasks is to remind people that I like to stop critiquing in the "Unveilings" section. So now I'm off the hook. And so are you! Thank you for your nice comments and positive feedback.

Thank you Alex! Thank you all. Had a lot on my mind lately. Even though it is 1:18 am here at times it is the only chance to catch up and participate.

Sincere regards,
mischa