Livia

Deborah Barton · 08-12-2005, 06:27 PM

Sorry, the image is way too saturated! I'm not sure what happened, because it doesn't look like that on my monitor. I'll try to correct it and upload a new image.

Deborah Barton · 08-12-2005, 06:42 PM

Well, here goes. I hope this is better. Notwithstanding the oversaturated image, you're certainly right about the wrinkled brow. That should help her look more natural. As far as the time of day, it was late afternoon in early May. Thanks for the extra set of eyes!

Marta Prime · 08-12-2005, 07:43 PM

Much Better! I guess I should have realized it was mostly a saturation issue, uploading accurate pictures of paintings is a skill in itself, and one I haven't ever mastered correctly.

Patricia Joyce · 08-16-2005, 11:32 AM

What a fun piece - alot of personality. I don't dare critique as I am a student myself, but I do enjoy looking at it!

Richard Monro · 08-16-2005, 12:37 PM

I really like the thoughtful pose and as a sailor for 55+ years, I congratulate you on getting all the sailing bits and pieces right. Most painters would skip them and make us crusty ole sailors grumble. Nicely done.

Brenda Ellis · 08-16-2005, 02:29 PM

Hi Deborah,

Now, keep in mind I'm a newbie so take anything I say with a grain of salt.

The two things that I notice are:
-You've got her forehead a bit too straight; it is more slanted and looks slightly more arced at the top in the photo.
-Her arm is a bit too thin down at the bottom in the painting. She looks like she has a little more flesh on her arm in the photo.

Two things I notice that may be intentional choices on your part are: Her hair glitters a bit more in the photo. Her shadows on her cheek are darker in the photo.

I like this a lot. I love your attention to detail on the sailboat rigging. And the lake in the background looks perfect. I'm wondering if you would want to play more with hard and soft edges? Every edge is very well defined. Her figure draws focus for me because of the saturated colors in her skin vs. the pale colors in the rigging and background. I don't necessarily focus on her face though. This may be fine because there are a lot of interesting things going on in the painting. I think it's interesting that you painted her with sunglasses on. (Of course anyone would wear sunglasses in this situation!) It's reminding me of Nagel slightly. The photo is great in composition and it looks almost stylized. My hat is off to whoever took the photo. You?

I love your modern, sharp style.

Deborah Barton · 08-16-2005, 05:27 PM

Thanks, guys! Your comments are quite helpful. It's amazing what I see now, that I didn't notice before. And yes, I took the picture. She wanted to take us for a sail that afternoon, even though we were all still dressed for her graduation (which explains why she's not in her usual t-shirt). It's also the reason I happened to have my camera with me. All in all, a fortuitous occasion!