Carissa

Alexandra Tyng · 08-29-2005, 08:45 AM

Jimmie,

I especially like the asymmetry and diagonal of the figure with the symmetrical background. It really works!

David Draime · 08-29-2005, 12:09 PM

WOW! You keep getting better! This is gorgeous.

Garth Herrick · 08-29-2005, 12:51 PM

WOW! You DO keep getting better! I agree with Alex about the composition.

Jimmie you must have attracted a flurry of campers like moths being attracted to a camp light! It's amazing you can get this accomplished on vacation.

Garth

Lisa Ober · 08-29-2005, 04:43 PM

That's superb, Jimmie! You make me wish I had a tan...and longer hair...and was thinner...and cute...

You could paint or draw in a cave with no light and it would come out beautifully.

Michele Rushworth · 08-29-2005, 08:57 PM

SO nice! A new level of elegance.

Molly Sherrick Phifer · 08-29-2005, 10:58 PM

This is really gorgeous, Jimmie! I love the background. So delicate. I can't even imagine painting it. The composition is brilliant!

Did you do the background from an actual wall, or is it your own invention?

Linda Brandon · 08-30-2005, 12:22 AM

I love this, Jimmie. The mood and the color harmony are terrific.

I just looked at the size, that is one big pastel painting! How did you like working this big? I would really like to see this in person.

Jimmie Arroyo · 08-30-2005, 10:10 AM

Thanks very much everyone, I really enjoyed myself this time. The suffering through this was completely different. Mostly involving bad lighting and planning.

I started by taking pictures in the model's home which had some outside light even though we tried our best covering it with the curtains. I used one main source of light on a stand from the left. The drawing and basic colors were laid down on paper using the Lumichrome lighting which is in the attic.

She came over to my house for a two hour sitting, strictly to work on flesh. I couldn't get the same lighting as the photo shoot, may be the space in the room, but it was close enough. Over my easel was a "color-corrective" light on a lamp, much darker than I was used to. No lighting over the pastels. During breaks, I stepped outside to check on the colors. After our session, went back upstairs and realized I needed to adjust the colors, badly.

Pressed for time, I had to take the painting and pastels with me to Virginia during vacation. The room lighting was poor enough, but got worse when I had to paint next to a table lamp with a basic 40W bulb at 4am. At least the lighting in the hallway was brighter, so I could step out there once in a while to see how I was doing.

Oops, gotta go, will finsh my thoughts later. Thanks again.