My Three Girlies
 

15" x 30" oil. My wife and granddaughters. I used Walnut oil for most of this painting, alkid for early glazes. I took this photo last summer in my back yard. I liked the colors of the objects, and the way the light illuminated the. I could not resist the challenge of painting this with the bubbles and all. The hair color looks a little odd in the JPEG. It really is not as bright.

I painted this painting from the image on my computer monitor, after printing out the canvas sized image and transfering it to my canvas. The print-outs were too dull even on glossy high resolution, and could not show the true colors of the scene as well as the monitor did. Consequently, I painted this in my office!!! (A real risk for me - I am not the tidiest painter.)

I get frustrated with cleaning my palette on a painting like this which requires so many colors. So I found a 12" x 16" tracing pad and used it as a palette. I just tore off the palettes as I was done with them. I used about ten pages or more. This is a great way to paint if you are like me - impatient with messes.

I look forward to your critiques!

Here is a close up. This shows the hair color a bit better. I think it may be a little too light and bright, but I fear making it too dark. As a matter of fact, all the ocher colors are wacko here.

Reference photo.

Nicely done, Lon. Cool bubbles!! Moment of enchantment well captured.

Just a couple of quick notes on the run for now. The dark downturned line of the mouth on the girl blowing bubbles doesn't seem to belong there. It isn't in the photo, as far as I can see, and anyway, when you pucker up and blow, the whole lip structure moves forward. That line right now is giving the girl's mouth a kind of fishy look (no offense meant to her).

I would add a small dark accent in the shadow area near the blue objects on the table, to "ground" them in the way you did the pink cup.

I occasionally use paper palettes, too, usually when I'm just doing a quick little touch-up. There are such palettes available at art stores (some in the "right shape", with a thumb-hole and everything), the slight advantage being that these use a kind of parchment paper that is likely not as absorbent as the tracing paper you're using. The hazard to be mindful of is that the paper can leech a good deal of oil out of the paint, potentially leaving the pigment somewhat underbound and weakening your paint layer. Not a huge concern, perhaps, but something to be mindful of, especially if your paints sit on the paper for a long time.

Steven

Great, Steven! I will do it!

(I don't know why the area around the nose of the baby as well as the eyebrows of same look so dark in the image.)

The paper really shows no signs of absorption! I do like those paper palettes. You can also refer back to them, and you can't do that when you wipe them off and start over again.

Whenever I finish a painting, I wish it was better. I can paint stuff, I just am weak in composition and creating something that is esthetic.

Sorry to do this in piecemeal fashion but I'm just ducking back in here while some fixative dries . . .

I had the initial impression when I first saw the painting, and I still do, that the whites of your wife's eyes are too bright. You might consider graying them down ever so slightly.

You mentioned composition, about which two things occur to me. I'm not particularly bothered in this case by the "three heads in a line" set-up, especially since you've given the piece a kind of wide "vista" format, but in another case you might want to look for some triangulation of subjects, to encourage movement of the eye around the painting.

The other thing is, go to the image of your painting and cover up with one finger that blue-and-red drinking glass. Does it seem to you that getting the "weight" of that object out of there suddenly makes the space "airier" and encourages the eye to follow the bubbles through that space?

Just some more random thoughts . . .
Steven

Yup, I am going to think about taking it out. The more I look at this piece, the less I like it. Oh well. Practice, practice.

My wife agrees! The drinking bottle has to go.

Can you tell me any other way I could make this subject more esthetic? I intended it to be sparkling with joy, and instead it looks emotionally sterile.

Lon,

I'll have to give you my near-midnight (where I am) quick take on your enquiry and then sleep on a more complete reply.

I think what you're sensing in the perceived lack of sparkle has to do with the source photo. You're trying to paint three brightly lit characters in the midst of enchantment, but the photo shows three back lit characters, whose faces are thus, for all intents and purposes here, in shadow. You're being forced to invent light on the faces that isn't there in real life, and gosh that's hard to do.

Once you remove the drinking bottle, I think you'll want to make sure the white sleeve gets put back into that space as accurately as possible -- I can see why the elbow is tucked in a little, as your wife supports the infant, but you might want to unscrunch it a little when repainting it, so that your wife's shoulder doesn't appear unnaturally narrow.

That's about all I can think of, this round.

Steven

I am considering putting a darker glaze over the whole background and the skin, and softening the hair and inverting it more. Wht say?

If I louse it up, no big deal.

How about this?

How about this?
 

I am confused. Hope this posts correctly.

Three Girlies
 

Lon, I'll give it to you from a different angle since Steven makes us all so lazy. You know, we just wait for him to make his posts....he covers about everything there is....then we just post something simple like "Ditto" or "Yeah, what he said."

Apart from the critiques (of which I agree with all) I think you have strong paintings. You are definitely aggressive and brave (more than I) to attempt these paintings. But remember, a photograph is a terrible thing to try and paint from if you haven't learned alot from painting from life. I speak of my experience, not yours. I still paint from life any chance I get. However, recently I have gotten more work to do from photos than ever before. An artist must make certain decisions about lighting and all the things associated with it to make a painting work from a photo.

You have the talent...you have an eye. I think you have strengths in some areas and need stregthening in others. You can't do anything but keep getting better.

Morris,
Thank you for your polite and positive post. I know this one is a stinker. Ha ha! The silence is deafening! I know you guys are looking, and thinking, "I won't comment on this turkey!" I can laugh about it. I really want the raw truth. I really love this site, as it motivates me more than anything has in many years to improve my painting. I have never been successful at oil painting, but I want to be. I think I could be a good painter. I get lucky sometimes.

I am getting some attention with these latest oils. Perhaps I will get something rolling in terms of commissions in order to increase my practice.

I will just keep looking at all your work here and learn.

When I make a painting, I'm thinking of a stage set with actors....and the props, stage design and lighting.

Stage lighting is meant to illuminate the actors on centerstage. It is also meant to set the mood of the piece by the way it is illuminated.

In a decent stage play, nothing is "random" or accidental." It is all well planned and scripted.

Turning that strong spotlight away from your background and rethinking some of your props is a good step toward allowing the audience to participate in a delightful and enchanting moment with these three charming actors.

Lon, I hope that I'm not being too obtuse here...I really do think in "theatrical" terms...

Incredibly, this is my third attempt at this note, having set a new record for myself by twice having unintentionally launched earlier drafts into cyberspace. To say I hate it when that happens would be quite inadequate. Switching over to Microsoft Word now . . .

Your mention of the

Really, the spotlight light is not on the background, but on the back side of the girls. The background is in the shadow. In a back-lit subject such as this, should I darken the fence and background more, and darken the face shadow more with stronger highlights, or does the outdoor back lit scenario just not work for me at all? Perhaps a darker shadow falling across the table forward towards the right might help show the light coming from the left over the shoulder.

No big deal, anyway. I just liked the subject, and saw a challenge in painting it. I will fool around with it a bit more, probably until it is so overworked the oil paint starts to squeek!

I have totally darkened the background again, and the faces as well, and added some purple here and there. I will post tomorrow after I get the morning sun to photogfraph it. It is improved with the darker and altogether different background.

I am going to redo the arm, as well, as you suggest. I think you are right, even though the drawring was transferred direct, it looks out of wack. Funny how that works. This has been a learnin' experience. My grandfather taught me to never give up on a painting. (Of course, he could add a magic stroke that helped a bit!) Thank you again!

Are we there yet?
 

This canvas is about 1/2" thick by now with oil paint. I shall call it, "Groupe Olay".

Thanks for the great help!

& this. . .
 

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& this. . .
 

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Wow! How nicely you've pushed this, working through changes in composition, value, colour -- you took the whole course in one painting.

With the new close-ups, I confess embarrassment at having misread the earlier version of your wife's hand -- it was the child's knee! The little white sack was throwing me off. (Maybe that doesn't even need to be there . . .)

Last observations, both about the bubble-blowing child. Her flesh tone is virtually monochromatic from chin to hairline. Since you're depicting in her face reflected light from the glass table, perhaps you could add a little colour here and there where the planes of the face turn away from that light, say, on the upper segment of the cheek (where that brownish dark tone is a little heavy anyway). Also, I think the ear is tilted a bit much. I realize that the head's posture also gives the ear a tilt, but it seems a bit excessive.

Now you've got a keeper. Well done.

Steven