One-year-old girl
 

Hi y'all!

It's been some time since I've posted a painting. Here is a portrait of a one-year-old little girl. 20 x 16, oil on canvas, all critiques welcome, digital demonstration ok.

Chuck, you've captured an alert and lively expression on this adorable little girl. I especially like the intelligence in her eyes.

I'm going to address two aspects of your painting. The first is proportion. Unless there is something highly unusual about her facial proportions, her eyes should be approximately halfway between the top of her head and the bottom of her chin. I am assuming you painted this girl from a photo since it would be pretty much imposible to get her to sit still. Did you take the photo from a point above her? Often the distortion makes the top of the head much larger than it really is.

The other issue is, I think, much more significant and not as easy to address. It has to do with the lack of a unified color in the space around the figure. You have used a darker shade of pink for the skin shadow, a darker shade of blue for the dress shadow, etc. The background is greyish-green. None of it holds together. Furthermore the figure seems cut out and not rounded because it is disassociated from the background. There is a thread in this forum on backgrounds, under "color theory" that might help somewhat.

I do agree with Alex's comments about color harmony. I try to do a color study before I proceed. I identify the dominant color, in your case, pink and balance it with a dull complementary, which in this case will be a grey green.

I do have to disagree with her comments about children's head proportions.

At approximately one to three years old the center of the head lies at the eyebrow line and gradually moves down as we grow to the eye line at adulthood.

A good reference for head proportions is Roberta Carter Clark's book , "How to Paint Living Portraits". It has a wealth of knowledge, including useful head size charts and good lighting information.

That's just so. "Formulae" for the average head construction of children is less noted in most "how to" books, observation from the life is most valuable. Another "earmark" of the very young is outsized eyes . . .

For another source of "average construction" of the head and figure for all ages, see Andrew Loomis' Figure Drawing for All Its Worth Viking Press, 1942

OK, you two, I stand corrected! I was thinking of the eye area rather than the eyeball specifically, but I should have been more specific, and children's heads do have more up there--it's all that potential.

Alexandra, Sharon, and Richard,

Thank you for your critiques. I see from my reference that she did have her chin slightly tucked, which I did not show in the portrait. She was very active; with both her parents trying to hold her, she was a blur in most of the photos. I will need to understand color harmony better.

Here is the reference.

I wouldn't paint from this photo, mostly because the mouth is a blur and trying to guess what it would look like will be impossible.

Michelle,

Thank you for your good advice. I wish I did have a better reference. I took well over a hundred photos, and this was by far the best of the lot. I don't have enough windows to make the room light enough to use a fast shutter speed. With a child this active, it really was a problem.

Chuck, you could always take 100 more! If your space doesn't have enough light, maybe the clients' home does. Instead of making do with less than optimal conditions, it is important to create optimal conditions before you even pick up a brush. I am thinking of your hard work and precious time.

Some subjects are just the wrong age to be painted, also. I know artists who won't paint a child under the age of 4 because they're often too wiggly.

Lessons unlearned
 

Chuck,

There is more than a wealth of infomation on this site adressing every problem you have encountered.

If you notice the heading of this Forum you will realize that it stipulates that it is a "Forum for Professional Portrait Painters and Serious Students.
It disturbs me that you have ignored time consuming advice from well meaning professional and continue to consitently repeat the same errors.

If you ARE serious about this field and not simply a Sunday painter I would suggest you take the time to enter a course of study of form in monochrome before you even consider tackling something as difficult as a head. I would spend several years of study before you attempt color. Also I would suggest you take as much figure drawing as you can.

There is also a wealth of information on taking good pictures which you also have ignored.

If you aren't willing to put in the hard work, there is little the Forum can do for you.

Different abilities, different sensibilities
 

We have learnt much through history, and from other people's lives that people learn at a different pace. Our most memorable character is Einstein himself, whom we've come to know that he was deemed "an idiot" when he was in school as a child.

But that has never stopped him. And certainly we can believe at some point in his life, there are people who continued to inspire him to try, and try again. Perhaps even to critique his thoughts. And since then, the rest is history.

When i first came to Portrait Forum, i felt like i was "an idiot" myself, among the great artists that i never dreamt i'll be "rubbing words" (read: rubbing shoulders) with. But with everyone's grace and patience, i started to grow beyond what i have imagined. And that encouraged me to put up my best works under the "Unveilings" section a couple of times - most of the time under the "Critiques" section.

While Sharon has highlighted this forum as one "for professionals and serious students", i see Chuck has taken his efforts little by little to become who he is. In fact, everyone is committed to contributing to this forum here, are "serious students".

So if Portrait Artist Forum is a place where people seek inspiration, encouragement and learning, isn't it more the case for Chuck and others who are slower in learning? That we become each other's "rays of hope" and pushing to excel in our work?

I certainly would like us to ponder on our purpose here in the Critique Section, as well as what we're doing here in the Forum itself. Or have we forgotten why we're here in the first place?

I've brought some of the background color into the shadows.

Chuck,

I'm so glad you are trying this--but you are too timid!

Do you have Photoshop? If so, try darkening the entire photograph. It looks a little bleached out. Darkening it might bring out the color and value of the skin in the light. You might also have an easier time seeing where the highlights are. I think that you will also see how the shadow areas relate to the background.

The hair is another area where the color in shadow still doesn't relate to the background. You could go much deeper with the reddish color--burnt sienna, raw sienna--and add the background color.

Or here's another suggestion: leave this portrait as is, then try taking a reference photo of the girl, or of someone else, using the suggestions on the forum. Post your reference to get the opinion of other artists, and if it seems workable, then go ahead with the painting, and post it step by step in the WIP section. If you seriously want to improve your use of color, light and shadow, there are people here who will help you.

Leaving your present portrait the way it is means you will not overwork it, and you can compare the two when you finish the second one.

You could also go to open studios and paint from life. You would be on your own, but trying to replicate the colors you see in life is also an excellent way to learn.