Great-Grandpa's Trombone
 

Not sure about the 'seasoned' part (?)-- but. . . just finished this one. Haven't signed it yet as it's pending client approval. The trombone is an antique and engraved all around the bell.

'Great Grandpa's Trombone'
Oil on Linen
20"x24"

Wow, I need to look up some words to express my impressions better. Very, very beautiful.

Very Nice, I think you can sign it, I can't imagine the client wouldn't approve.

Mary, Claudemir -- Thanks so much!

Terri, I think this is beautifully painted - your edges are soft and the color here is lovely. I went and checked out your website and confirmed my view that you have a wonderful feel for facial expression as well. Time to raise your prices! Congratulations on this one.

Gosh, Linda - Thanks for all your thoughtful comments!
Just raised prices March 1st -- :bewildere . . .

Terri - beautiful job!

What treasures, the handsome little guy, the instrument and now the painting. This is great!

Terri, I keep looking at this painting trying to figure out how you get (or don't get) your edges. They are so natural and soft. Any tips or hints?

Also, there is a subdued tone to your recent work which I love. Doesn't it also help to have such a cute model as well? Attractive people make great paintings really sing. Now that I think about it, unattractive people who are interesting looking do the same thing. You obviously have the former here.

Finally, you handled the trombone's detail work perfectly.

This is wonderful, Terri!

Very beautiful Terri. Having once tried my hand at a brass instrument I can really appreciate the time and effort that went into this. Very successful I think.

Well Done Terri! Its beautiful.

Kim, Janel, Lisa, Cynthia, Mike, thanks so much! How nice to wake up to. . .

Lisa, about edges...? don't know that I've got any great secrets --guess I use a variety of strategies for them --including smudging with a finger (do that a lot!). I save my old brushes and use them for blending, and a thin layer of translucent color spanning a transition also helps to unify things. Probably it helps too that pretty much all of my favorite colors are transparent, with the exception of raw sienna (semi-transparent) and white(opaque).

Thanks again!

Ngaire, thank you! (we must have been posting at the same time. . .:) )

Wow!
 

Dear Terri,

You've blown us all away with your mastery once again (no pun intended). This is delightful; your subject has a magical expression that you've caught. I can't imagine your clients being anything but thrilled with your success. the intergeneational aspect of your portrait is touching, and the engraving is beautifully rendered on the trombone. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Garth

Terri,
I am positively blown away by this painting. Each one is more and more wonderful. But this one is MAGIC!!! The boy's expression is precious and the trombone is BEAUTIFUL! I know you were concerned about painting it and it turned out so beautifully. My son is a professional trombonist and I am going to send it to him. He will really appreciate the image!!

You are going places, GIRL and I can say I knew you when!!

Pat

ps what people who don't play the trombone wouldn't notice is that you have even captured the slight swelling of the upper lip which most trombonist, even young ones have after they have been playing. Is it my imagination or did you notice this about his mouth when you were studying him.

Terri, thank you for answering that question. I really enjoy hearing the various techniques people use and I particularly like yours. I appreciate you sharing the information. Again, beautiful painting.

Gorgeous, Terri. The trombone, especially, just pops off the canvas!

Terri,

Very sensitive and nice.

Garth, sure -- no pun intended! ;) The intergenerational aspect is a big part of this piece. The boy's (out-of-town) grandmother contacted me via my website about how special this pose was to them... makes it more meaningful to me too.

Patti--how neat that your son plays professionally! Didn't even occur to me that the full upper lip is from the trombone playing... I did have him play for me to help him forget that he was having his picture taken... so that might be part of it, or it could just be the way his mouth is?

Lisa, thanks again!

Thanks Michele... The trombone was really fun to do... on the other hand, have had enough *****willows for awhile! :)

Enzie--thanks for saying so!

Terri,
This is beautiful, I love his expression. I have been thinking about composition and it amazes me that your painting works so well. There are a lot of seemingly conflicting lines, the window, the willow branches and then his instrument. I think it must be the values that make it work. Well, it is beautiful. Very real and warm.

Thanks Cynthia - so glad you think it works! :D

Thought the composition was a little risky starting out (those horizontals potentially leading off the right end of the canvas...) but hoped to counter that by keeping the strongest contrast/highest values at his face and hands, and pushing the values down, in the background. If I could have gotten away with making him left-handed instead of right, I'd have preferred the mirror composition so that the horizontals led into the painting rather than out!

Thanks again!

Jebus, this is good! The way you held attention to the boy with the lighting, compared to such a large instrument is, is, is........ sorry, I was trying to find an appropriate word for REALLY, REALLY GOOD.

Thanks Jimmie -- you made my day!

So soft, Terri you've done it again.

Jean

Terri

I know that when I see you've posted something I'm in for a real treat. This is superbly done - in all its aspects - as others have already mentioned. When it comes to your handling of color, I just love your restraint. Your paintings inspire me.

Terri,

It's interesting how horizontal direction is important to the way we see things. Evidently we all read paintings from left to right, compositionally. I'm not making that up! Rudolf Arnheim has postulated this in his book "Art and Visual Perception". I still prefer the original orientation, personally. But it should bode well for this painting when it is loved both backwards and forwards.

Garth

Thanks Jean!

David I'm floored you should say that --thanks so much! I so look forward to when you post your work and the subtlety and mood that you are able to convey.

Thanks Garth :)-- somehow I thought that left to right thing was tied to the direction that we read text... so that people from other cultures that read text right to left or top to bottom would also read art with that learned directionality?? Does Arnheim's postulate agree with that -- or is he saying that regardless of reading patterns all people read paintings left to right?