"Marianne"
 

Well, I've been lurking long enough. I'm bravely submitting this portrait of a good friend, Marianne for your scrutiny. I have cropped the painting, hoping to improve the composition which origianally included her feet on the fainting couch.
I painted this primarily from life, using the photos I took during the sittings at her home as reference to complete the painting. Marianne sat for a total of 25 hours over a period of 3 weeks last winter.
I learned much doing this portrait. Although portraiture has always been my first love, I have painted only a total of 11 portraits.

Thanks in advance for your comments, critiques, and any encouragement...
Sandra

I decided to wait to post two other works and take it one at a time.
Sorry about the misleading Title.
Sandra

Perhaps this close up will be helpful.
Thank you in advance for any comments and suggestions..
Sandra

Sorry,
but this is oil on linen... originally 18"x24" before the crop.
Sandra

Well done. Nice mood. I like the feel of it.

Thank you for your comment, Mark. Marianne is a good friend and she has an amazing spirit! Tried to capture a bit of that spark!
Sandra

Hi, Sandra,

You

Steve,
Wow! This is great! I am amazed at how helpfull all this is to me.

Calla lillies is right.

And I want you to know how much I appreciate your suggestions. I feel this is one of my best portraits to date, but I also realize there are some things that are just plain distracting in it from her face and expression. I am going to read your suggestions with painting in hand and think about what I might do to simplify the areas around her.

I think the nose is accurate. She is German/gypsy descent, whose ancestors migrated north from Morocco across Spain to Germany. Very unusual, exotic beauty.

Thanks again for your comments.
Sandra

Sandra,

This is very lovely, accomplished portrait of an unusual beauty. I love the relaxed sinuous pose; something that is quite difficult to pull off. You have made it work. Steven has made some excellent and useful comments and I won't touch on those.

I know I am probably going to get a lot of raspberries from your admirers, but the calla lilies are just too distracting: perhaps it is their whiteness or stiffness. It is a very soft and curvy pose that calls for a more rhythmic type of flower or none save the ones in back.

I know it is a maddening problem, what to do with the hands. It is one that afflicts all figurative and portrait artists. Personally I would have preferred a gypsy type of scarf draped from her hands: it would have added another way of adding additional color notes and said (I think) more about her personality. Actually I am not of fan of sticking flowers into the hands of female sitters ( although I must confess to this sin myself): it always looks somehow artificial and forced. I think the portrait artist should always try for something a bit less overused and more telling.

Sharon,
Thank you so much for your complements and well thought out suggestions. Your work is beautiful, and I respect your opinion.
I am really new at sitting the subject and I agree that something more simple would have been better. I am a big fan of Daniel Gerhardtz and I have to admit the calla lillies were a lame imitation... hope he remembers that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I read something here that I think will help in future poses, that the modern trend is to have the sitter in a relaxed pose, hands folded or just held naturally. A gypsy-like scarf could have carried out the vibrance and movement in the same way I have hoped the flowers would. Maybe it is the stark white. Everything else in the room was very "Old World" in color... golds and eggplant... and her black velvet dress with Spanish lace.

Is anyone else inclined to paint the same subject more than once or twice, trying different things each time? Every time I have done that, my son tells me, "Mom, MOVE ON!!"

Anyway, thanks again for the input.

Sandra

Steve,
Just to let you know, I am still working on analyzing your many astute observations.
Thank you for giving your time, skill, and attention to this.
Sandra

Oh, yes, and Sharon, I still would have her leaning into the fainting couch... Marianne was nervous when we sat down, so I told her to relax a bit while I mixed colors (Daniel Greene's method). She started chatting about her nieces and nephews (love of her life, since she is unmarried) and when I looked up, there she was, head on her hand, eyes sparkling... I asked her if she could be comfortable like that for 15-20 periods and she said she could.

Later I had the calla lillie idea. They were part of her decor and I thought they would fill out all that space.....

Sandra

Sandra,

I'm so glad you posted this painting. It is so rich in color and texture, and you've managed to capture your friend in a way that not only tells the viewer about her, it also makes a memorable image.

I want to address the issue of wanting to fill up the canvas, or, putting it another way, worrying that there is too much empty space. You've got so much going on between your very striking subject, sparkling objects and jewelry, colors and lively background, that you don't need to worry about leaving "empty" space. In this painting I am speaking specifically about the calla lilies. I think there are too many, and they are all in similar groupings. You could probably get by with the one group to the left towards the back, eliminating the other two. I like Sharon's suggestion of changing her hand and putting a scarf in it or something. (This would also give you the opportunity to try a more natural hand position.) I find the lilies in the foreground annoying because they block my view of Marianne.

Empty space can be good! It can be strong! Don't doubt its power! Being selective about what you put in will focus the attention on the figure.

Alex

Alexandra, you and I have something in common.... our name. Alexandra is the feminine version of Alexander, after "Alexander the Great," (Greek). Sandra is the An

Hi there!

I don't realy have much to add to the discussion. I just wanted to mention that I found the portrait striking, as others have said, and I am finding the discussion of hands, posing, and empty space to be valuable and interesting.

Also, in the way of names, I noticed your last name "Quintus." Quintus is a Roman man or boy's name, in use during ancient Rome when Latin was being spoken. I have no idea how directly this would be related to your last name, but I thought it was interesting considering your comment above.

I can't remember the meaning of Quintus, but I'll ask my Latin teacher again and report back. :)

Nice work and I would be interested to see any experiments that you do with this composition!

Hi Sandra (and Lacey),

I did know about the Latin meaning--I've always heard Alexandra means "helper of mankind" as a variation on the meaning of Alexander. And Quintus--isn't that "the fifth" as in quintuplets? So maybe you, Sandra, are the fifth helper of mankind?