Nice couple

[Janet Kimantas]

Hi Richard,

When I did the initial drawing I created a grid in Photoshop on the pic and a grid on my canvas. I drew within the grid in a sketchy-kind-of-way and then drew/painted what I saw. I took regular shots of the work as it progressed and superimposed these over the original pic. Some things I corrected, some I did not. The general proportions seemed fine, so I think that what you are seeing may be a distortion of the final painting. And the colours are a concern for me also. All those years of illustrating where ease of reproduction is paramount. I do have a hard time toning it down. You are right there.

Sam is indeed a beauty. She is kind, considerate, down-to-earth, loyal, unaffected, smart as all get out (in medical school this fall). And I will bet that in 26 years she will be even more beautiful(!!!)

[Sharon Knettell]

Janet,

This is a nicely posed painting of a lovely couple.

The problems as I see it are of values, squint your eves and you will see that her face recedes a bit as it is receiving less light. You have both faces the same value. You have also done that with the features, each one looks as though it was separately painted. You should do some mass studies first to strengthen your painting of form and not concentrate on the individual details of features. The highlights in the eyes are not necessary and make her eyes pop too much.

Do some some quick monochromatic studies of form to loosen up and get away from concentrating so quickly on details.

I prefer the turquoise to the olive green as well.