Jackson
 

Here's Jackson.

And a closeup.

AH! BEAUTY!!!

You finished that just in time. I'm working on one with a dark background such as yours. Thanks for the reference ;)

Congratulations Peggy, this is an outstanding portrait! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Congratulations Peggy! A very beautifully painted and sensitive portrait. I love the little hands...move over Robert Schoeller!

A triumph, Peggy!

What a remarkable POV you've chosen. Truly unique. I don't even know what to call it; sort of 3/4's up, 2/3's down with a slight pivot to the left? What an achievement. I hope everyone realizes how difficult such a delicate and subtle pose is to pull off.

I too am doing a dark-ish background with a hardwood floor. Thanks for the inspiration. (What took you so long to post? ;) )

Thanks, guys.

I am working on a separate mental image as I paint.

To place the subject in a position where there is the potential for movement. In other words, the subject is not moving, but their balance has shifted in preparation for movement. A seated figure's weight has shifted from the buttocks, back and forearms (a person at rest) and is placing his weight on the upper thighs and hands, in preparation of getting up. They are not in motion, but in the potential for motion.

Jackson is shifting his weight from his back foot to his front foot. His weight is not entirely on either foot, although it is more weighted on the back foot. This causes the sway that David referred to. It gives an aliveness to a (supposedly) resting figure. A lot of motion, but hidden. A lot of tension, which makes the viewer fascinated by the painting without knowing why. A slight uneasiness.

Peggy

Dear Peggy,

What a very insightful notion. As I think about it, I agree with you more and more that in the "potential" for movement there is a tremendous energy, no matter how restrained.
I think that the flip side of that kind of energy occurs when you capture a subject at the moment that a motion is completed, poised for rest.

This sense is very different from some of the traditonal poses, which perhaps characterize conventional corporate pieces, ie executives in suits, surrounded by the symbols of their success, about to sign Important Legal Documents.

I think also that your insight speaks to the nature of spontaneity tha isn't possible painting from life, no matter how quickly one paints. What do you think?

My deepest compliments on your beautiful work, and kindest regards,

Chris

Boy, I'm mad! How can I start painting when I see such beautiful work as this! Oh well, I will try anyway.

I like the way you handled the detail in the background without drawing too much attention to it. Soft lighting but you still keep the nice color values. I am inspired! (or depressed, I cannot figure out which)

Chris,

The action, or potential for action, is not in the stance of the subject, it is in my perception. I think the action. I don't tell the subject to lean forward in his chair, my reference material probably looks much the same as the ones you use, but by thinking about potential action, thinking about weight shifts and pressure points, I can make minute shifts that show up in the painting.

(As an aside, one of the most profound insights I've ever received came when Cedric Egeli said that when drawing my seated model, to think all the way around the model. The first thing to do was "know" where the tip of her scapula was touching the back of the chair, and draw forward from there. To draw completely around the figure. This body knowledge of the subject is what makes it possible to make the weight shifts. I just feel in my own body where the subject is in space, and feel the weight shifts in my own body, and paint that. Is this making any sense? I've never tried to describe it before....even though I've been painting this way for two or three years now.)

So to your question about live models vs. photographs, you can animate the restful sitter in the same way. Sometimes the potential shift is as minute as a weight shift from one buttock to the other. People are rarely truly at rest.

Peggy