Rhapsody in Blue

[Janet Kimantas]

Hhhmmmm. I see an anomaly with the mullions in the forward window already. And the dog doesn't seem to be smiling his little smile. Got to fix those things. I do like this background better, thanks to all. If anyone would care to help me finish up with this through their comments, I would be grateful.

To the wonderful person who kindly PMed me about the lopsided eyes: I used Linda Brandon's kind suggestion of an acetate tracing of a same-size print to check throughout the painting process. I also same-sized the photo of the painting over top of the ref shot and slid the transparancy back and forth, and I am just not seeing what you see. And you are not seeing what I see in that this man is more crooked than you know. This pose doesn't even hint at the sins of his nose. He has 12 point vanishing perspective on his face!

Thanks for all your help, Janet

[Alexandra Tyng]

Hi again, Janet,

I do like this background a lot more. It's less fussy and complicated, and the rectangles of the windows go nicely with the steps.

Here are some new things to look at:

1) In the reference photo there is a distinct difference between light and shadow on the house. I don't get the same feeling in your painting. The planes of the stone in light look too cool. As a result, there is too much blue, and a slight feeling of monotony in the color. A little more warmth in the light might help the blue work more to your advantage.

2) The perspective in the window muntins is off. I think you already mentioned seeing a problem in one of the windows. In your reference photo, one muntin is exactly at eye level and goes straight across. The top step slants very slightly up from left to right because it is very slightly below eye level. If you follow that line across the canvas, it should correspond to any muntins that happen to be at that level. Below that, the angle of the muntins would go up at even more of an angle toward the right; yours slant down.

3) I would suggest making the value of the window frames inside the glass more like the value in the reference photo. The windows in your painting have a curiously blank look because you have not established this value change. BTW, I like the way you have not articulated every line in the blinds!

4) Since we don't have a reference photo of your husband's face, I'm still left wondering whether the inner corners (tear ducts) of his eyes line up in real life. Most people's do, even when the rest of their face is very asymmetrical. Maybe you've already checked that with the acetate, and if so I won't say another word!

All in all, it's coming along beautifully.

Alex

[Janet Kimantas]

Hi Alex,

I feel like apologizing or something. I should know this stuff already. You're giving all this amazing, world-class advice and I'm the dumb kid holding up everyone else. Phooey. It doesn't help that summer is well and truly over. That's depressing enough on its own. However, life and painting go on. The architecture will be addressed tomorrow and in the meantime, those eyes. Following are shots of the ref pic, the painting and another pic in which my squinty honey tried his best to keep his eyes open. I started by drawing one straight line (on the ref pic) from outer corner to outer corner; duplicated it twice, once for the tear duct thing you mentioned, once for an approximation of the upper eyelid. Then I duplicated these three lines without changing them (except for rotating all of them the same for the last pic). What am I missing? If it helps, Derek pointed out over my shoulder that he has one high beam and one low beam.

Thanks for all your valuable time. I owe you. Janet

[Alexandra Tyng]

Janet, I know what it is, and it is very subtle! Look at the inner corners of the actual open parts of the eyes. See the little crease that comes down from them toward the nose? They are not lined up exactly in your portrait, though they are in real life. It's very picky, but it will make a difference in how the viewer "reads" the eyes. The "line" or crease of the eye on our left should come down a mite, while the crease on the (our) right is okay, but the bottom lid of the eye right under the tear duct should be slightly higher.

[Janet Kimantas]

Alex, thanks. I will fix it tomorrow. Right now it's too dark to see, besides I am full of salmon and asparagus. Yum yum. Thanksthanksthanks for everything. I will be up at the crack of dawn (about 8 if I figure rightly) and all over it. Sheesh, I've hear of "games of inches" but we have a game of microns going. Have a good night and thanks again.

Janet

[Janet Kimantas]

They're baaaack.

I have to confess to being reasonably pleased with this. The acid test is probably putting it away for a bit and looking at it with fresh eyes. It's amazing what you can do with expert advice. Thanks, all.

Janet