Mike
 

This is Mike, twin brother of Will, who I posted a while back. Canvas sizes are the same, and heads are roughly equivalent in size.

Between the two paintings, I favor this one slightly.

Tom, it's lovely! That wall looks pretty incredible as well.

Tom, it's beautiful! His parents were wise to choose you as the artist. Was it their idea to commission separate portraits of the twin boys? You've handled the issue of individuality and compatibility beautifully. His face has so much appeal. You have caught the nuances in the way he holds the ball and crosses his feet. The colors are so naturalistic--an impressive handling of sun and shadow. This will make a perfect companion for his brother's portrait.

Could you possibly post some details (face, hands and feet)?

Wow, i's great! I love that warm glow about it.

Very nice painting, Tom.

Thanks, y'all. As requested...

Tom,

What a beautiful painting! It has so much atmosphere, it makes me feel that I am there.Your lovely edges and soft color transitions are just wonderful.

Another painting, so well done. Congratulations!

Chris, thank you. The backgrounds look a lot more rendered than they actually are. I value massed and edited a lot.

Alex--They asked for separate portraits, to their credit. They let the boys determine how much they want to mirror each other in life. The mother may have steered clothes, but the shirts were two different shades of light blue. They are more consciously posed than I usually like to do, but I designed the paintings to be hung either together or separately. (I don't think the plan is to hang them together.)

Tom,

Along with all of the other comments I'd like to ditto and convey how the temperature was the first thing that struck me. It is soaked in the outdoors and covers the warm and cool spectrums beautifully.

And what a subtle touch.

I wish that I could see these in person.

Tom, I just realized how wonderfully you have handles the "teeth". Just as John pointed out, the temperature and may I add overall feel strikes the senses first, that all else becomes secondary. I hope that what I am trying to express is making sense?!

This is beautiful, Tom, painted with (your usual ;) )grace and taste. You have really caught the feeling of a soft summer day. I'm really impresed by the subtle way you model the forms in the sunshine - you make it look easy (and it isn't). I am going to keep coming back to look at this one .

John--

They'll be in the studio until the first week of July. I'll be out next week, but after that, if you're over this way, let me know and you can drop by.

Enzie--

Makes perfect sense. One advantage here was that they were still in baby teeth stage, so they were a little more subtle than now. Artists often make the same mistake with teeth they make with the whites of the eyes, and make them too white.

Another tip about detail I just heard, from Bart Lindstrom, and it's great. He said if you can squint something out in what you're viewing, you should be able to squint it out in your painting too.

Linda--

Thanks so much! It was great seeing you in Philadelphia. Let me know if you come east again...

Tom,
This is beautiful.

Pat--

I appreciate your kind words!