Portrait Critique on background

[Paul DeLorenzo]

Dear Renee, Michele and Mary:

Forgive me for addressing you as a group. I am doing so because I have the same advice for each of you.

Renee and Mary have chosen photos from which nothing can be done. There is nothing in them to indicate light and shadow. Mediocre source material always results in a less than mediorce painting.

Michelle, your double light sources cancel each other. The way to do it is to use a cool natural light and a warm incandescent. One for a strong rim light, the other as a gentle fill. There must be a band of shadow between them, or the form is destroyed. Richard Jack R.A. did some powerful work this way. If you can find something by him it is worth the trouble.

Personally, I do not believe there is anything of value to be learned from working from photography, but if one must work from those with one light source in which the shadows are not too blackened and the lights are not too washed out.

I suggest you get good old master reproduction and make careful copies. This may give you some idea about how to light models and help you to be more discriminating in your choice of swipe.

In the future, if it is possible, post the swipe next the image of the painting so that the painters on this forum will be able to give you better criticisms.