Jamie in a tux
 

I took these today of my 12-year-old son - not for a portrait, but now I am thinking about it. They are pretty formal for my taste, but I am so pleased with them.

I have the hardest time with my own children because I see them always smiling and it is strange to see them so serious.

As a side note he was in a tux for a formal ball and the medal was because he just won first in tennis...and...and we just found out he placed in the top 4 (not sure yet which) for a county-wide creative writing competition.

I am not proud or anything.

Kimberly,

These are very striking images. I am not sure if it is absolutely necessary to have the background as black as the tux suit, although that adds a little mystery to the images. I wonder if you might find more painting reference potential with perhaps a dark gray background to better separate the outline of the suit and figure?

Wow, Kimberly! Such a handsome boy. And smart, too, eh?

Hey, quick question....if you don't mind. What's on your photo equipment list? I'm still shopping.

The lighting, focus, tones and proportions are just perfect!

Btw, I like the top one and the bottom one. :sunnysmil

Best to you,
Gear

Thanks gentlemen. I didn't expect the background to look so black.

It's a black piece of drapy cloth temporarily stapled to my diningroom wall. It has photographed gray before, but this time it is obviously really black looking.

The windows are to the left (looking at the photos) - right beyond a corner of the room. So, no lighting except that. About 5 pm I think. And my camera is a cheapie Fuji finepix with only 2.5 mp's. I have my new one all picked out, but haven't been able to get it yet. I had it on a tripod, but I kept picking it up - so no shutter-release. Lots of them are blurry, but if I am careful I can get them clear.

....."cheapie Fuji finepix" she says. :! Wow, again. OK.....may I buy it from you when you get your new one? ;) Pretty incredible looking on this side of it I tell you.

The trouble I'm having lately with my film camera isn't really the film or the camera. It's that my favorite (quickie) shop guy sold out and the new owners bought brand new equipment and they just push one button and whatever spits out .....that's what you get. Milky pictures, yellowish, or bluish tints...etc., etc. blah....

Anywho.....nice going.

-G

Kim,

How about doing that last one down to the fourth button on his shirt, button his jacket (creating a V), and loose that additional fancy black apparatus that comes down in a V. Create that dark grayed background that Garth talked about and put all this in the center of a 20x16 and vignette out the bottom.

I bet you could knock this one out. It might be just what the doctor ordered after your brothel series.

This would be easy to test in photo shop.

Geary - no lie - you dont want my camera. I dropped it soon after I got it and it has had duck tape on it ever since!

Mike - is this sort of what you had in mind? You are right about one thing - I could use something doctor prescribed after the bodello...

What's not to like?

I like the first one, painted exactly as shown. Reminds me of a Sargent painting in the museum here in Seattle.

If I did any of these it would have to be for my portfolio. It would take too much explaination to have this in my home. We are not tuxedo people most days - we are shirtless around the pool people. (well, the boys at least). And if it were for my portolio - wouldnt it be better to have something more people would be interested in doing with their own children? How many people really want their children painted in a tuxedo? Then again - maybe that IS the types I need to target.

If I were going to paint one of my family for just myself - exactly what I wanted ....it would be all of us dressed similiarly casual and piled all over each other like a bunch of monkeys. We can't sit down to watch tv without the kids all piling on us. There are other couches...other chairs, but that want to be on our laps - squished all together. So that is how I'd paint us. I've wanted to do this for years - my youngest is getting older and I want to do it before he gets any bigger. I just want to come up with a pleasing natural composition. I may go scope out the zoo for ideas. :D

Kim,

What you describe sounds like a nice photo, the whole family pilled up with a big bowl of popcorn. I would set it on a timer and have everyone mug and throw pop corn on cue. Not too worry about composition, just a fun documentary moment of the family. Pick your best shot, put it in a frame and hang it on the wall.

I would like to offer to you, from a once-was Texan to a used-to-be Yankee, a double coyote dare.

Pick one of those popcorn throwers, put them in a collared shirt of your choosing, and do a head and shoulder three quarter portrait.

Is this the Sargent that Michelle meant?
 

JSSargent
W. Graham Robertson, 1894
90" x 46"
(Tate, London)

Nope. It's a three quarter length of a man in black on a black background, a pianist friend of Sargent's. I couldn't find it online, though it is in one of the Ormond books.

OK - Mr. Used-to-be Texan - your trying to tell me that a casual arrangement like I mentioned could not be called a portrait? If we are all looking at the viewer? Maybe outside somewhere scenic?

Can someone start a thread on this? I want to see examples of good portraits that are different or casually arranged..with at least 3 people. Show those that you'd consider portraits vs. figuratives.

For example: Linda Nelson had that long tall portrait of a large family - great composition. They are all interacting nicely. Why would that be a portrait and not one like I described? The main difference is that we wouldnt be standing...?

OK, Mike - I'll do a collared-shirt one of one of my family just to prove I can if you'll start that thread for me.

Michele,

Is that at the Frye, or at SAM? I've seen Sargent's "Mrs. Fredrick Roller" at Frye.

Gear

You don't have to do that, I'm sure you could do it. I was just having flashbacks of your last "many figured" project.

What you were describing was an indoor scene with a bunch of folks sorta knarled up, these (if there are any of these) can be tough to light and difficult to compose at best. That's not to say that you couldn't do it, but, it might take a village to pull it off well.

Geary, it's at the Seattle Art Museum. It's Leon Delafosse. I did find an image of it on the web:

That is a gorgeous example Michele - thanks for posting it. I love how the black runs into his suit. I wish someone would hire me to paint Jamie in his tux - his mother can't afford to pay me. ;)

Does this mean Mike that you wont start that thread? I truly would love to see examples of good, bad etc... and where is the line drawn that turns them into figuratives. I always thought of figuratives as having to be looking away, but I have since seen plenty of portraits like that. And when you get to groups of people...then it's a fine line to me unless they are formal and staring right at the viewer.

Michele - a quick question since you have seen that portrait in person: Can you tell me what colors are in that hand ? Just a guess maybe...it recedes so beautifully.

Thanks Michele!

Since my mother is visiting from California.....I think I'll take her there tomorrow.

I agree with Kimberly about the black-on-black look. Very rich. The young man looks like he was born on a bed of money! :)

Geary, the last time I went to SAM this painting was not on display, but I know it is in their own collection. You might want to call the museum and see if they would let you see it anyway.

Kim, I don't remember the colors in the hand but I do remember that the suit did disappear into the background almost completely. That surprised me but it had an interesting effect of making the figure seem like he was growing out of the darkness.

[QUOTE=Mike McCarty]You don't have to do that, I'm sure you could do it. I was just having flashbacks of your last "many figured" project.

I am supposed to turn down a coyote dare? Ha! (What kind of yankee - oops! - I mean Texan do you think I am?)

I want to crack a wise one about you flashing back to the bordello figures, but I cant seem to make it sound right... my wit is leaving me.

Ms. Kimberly,

You don't need me to start that thread. I charge an additional $5 for thread starting, which would bring it to a total of $5. So step up, be a starter of threads.


I could withdraw my coyote dare and resubmit it as an armadillo dare. They are much easier to wiggle out of since they are often found drunk on the side of the road.

As to bordellos, I much prefer a chianti.

Double Tux
 

Hi Kimberly,

Forgive me but I couldn't resist embellishing your black on black themed image. You don't have to take this composition seriously, as it looked great already. I know the lighting doesn't make sense between the two.

Reversing the Sargent makes better sense with the light. The way everyone is looking different directions and thinking separate thoughts seems Manet-like.

Garth

Looks like the mentor overlooking his protegee, or the "art of cool". I love it!

Jean

Garth - it looks like father & son to me - the rich nobles or something. Either that or it could be an ad for the 'fashinably-dressed' aristocrats. I'll show Jamie when he gets home - he ought to get a chuckle out of it!