" La nonette" painting version.
 

I was interested to see if I could bring this further. It was an interesting experience.
I used my drawing like a preparatory sketch, so the main compositional challenges were yet resolved, but changing the medium makes a big difference of approach..

It's beautiful, Marina - those dark, cool woods are wonderfully mysterious and I like how they set off the skin tones of the girl.

wonderful

Marina--WOW! I love it! The color accentuates the fairy-tale archetypal quality. I feel the importance of what you are saying, but you say it totally without artifice or pretension. It's beautiful and moving. The idea that the little girl comes from those mysterious woods, the slight feeling of nervousness I get with the thought that the woods are behind her, is disconcerting because I would expect a little child to be on the other side of the wall from the woods, maybe looking into the woods. (At least that is the stereotype.) So this is the unexpected and strange quality. What does she know? It's intriguing because from this dark unknown emerges a child who is innocent in the sense that she is trusted by the bird. I could look at it a long time and wonder about it.

Thank you Linda,
I have read some threads about adding some of the background colors in the skin tones , but finally I did exactly the contrary : I added some skin and hair colors to the background, and it seems also to help the figure to integrate the atmosphere more harmoniously.

Claudemir, Thanks a lot!

Alex, I'm glad you like it !
I like the fact that it brings a lot of questions. I believe that when an artwork brings some aesthetic emotions, it's a good thing, but when it brings aesthetic emotions AND an intellectual process, it doubles the viewer's pleasure.

Marina, fabulous job. One could write a short story based on this painting.

Marina,

I just had to go back to your charcoal/Cond

Marina,

I am a big fan of your work and love how you manipulate the settings and poses to provide us with more than just the image of a beautiful child. Lovely, as usual!

Marina, I loved the drawing, and now am truly in love with this painting. Everyone has already mentioned the story aspect of this, and my immediate reaction was of the story behind it. Then it hit that it is also beautifully painted.

Jean

What a great idea! As you said, Marina, art that raises questions aesthetically, emotionally and intellectually holds an irresistible attraction for the viewer. It definitely hints at a story.

But on the other hand, maybe the unknown and the questions are more compelling than the answers. We can all look at it and invent our own stories.