Annie and Lauren

[Garth Herrick]

Hi Daniel:

Welcome to the Forum.

The figures in both paintings appear to be very well drawn with a high degree of sensitivity. I like the imagery and the compositions. However, the high contrast, highly saturated color seems to be borrowed too literally from the photo references you used. This is a trap we can all fall into using photos. I agree with Linda that you may find it helpful to paint the newborn from life, or what I might try is to further work on your painting with the photo reference handy to guide the drawing, as you observe the baby for natural color. You may find a way to further work into the painting of the three year old, by observing her natural color while she watches television, and using the photo reference to guide your drawing. Right now the flesh tones look a little pasty (like they often do in over-exposed photo prints), and there is an odd color cast in her blond hair. I find it helpful to borrow the clothes so that their colors may be observed firsthand (the colors look photographic, and over saturated). The grassy meadow could benefit from more natural, less photographic colors too. I think there is a lot of potential with these paintings. Sometimes very small color correction modifications can have a huge difference in how the painting looks to the viewer. Thanks for sharing them. You may get more helpful responses if you post your reference photos too.