Michael Kayaking
 

This is my son kayaking. The active pose is his request.

20" x 16" Acrylic on Canvas
closeup and original photo to follow.

Sorry for the glare at the right!

Detail of Face

I've softened some of the details on the face since I originally posted this. Seeing it on the computer made it jump out at me how hard some of the edges were! (This is the revamped version.)

Reference photo

So - my 'to do' list on this one right now includes:
1. adjusting the iris/pupil on his left eye so that it is not quite so far left,
2. softening the light dark contrast in the background trees,
3. some work on his legs so they don't look so wooden,
4. toning down the girl in the background so that she doesn't jump out so much, and
5. anything else I happen to notice, while I'm at it (there always seems to be something more, doesn't there :bewildere ), that needs fixing!

Please feel free to comment or critique, I'm sure that fresh eyes looking at this will see things that I've missed.

Thanks!

Terri,

I'll give you a couple of observations. I agree that the eyes could be adjusted to a less "shifty" look. I don't know your son, he may be a shifty sort, but a more straight on glance might give him a more "we're having fun look."

Your boys skin tones look to be a little red on my screen. And you might observe the reflected color from the boat onto the underside of his legs and arm to be more yellowish that red.

I like your portrait and given all the adjusting you did I think it works pretty well.

While you're messing with the background, gray it back a bit, so it will recede better.

Thanks for your comments!

Mike - I think a lot of that reddishness in the skin tone has to do more with the photo than the painting. The lighting conditions were less than ideal and the camera seems to overemphasize red tones when I'm using artificial light. I'm sure there's probably a setting somewhere I ought to be adjusting. :o (I'll try to get a better shot to post next time.) As far as the red reflection on the back of his legs, you're right. I hadn't noticed before that it shows yellow on the reference photo on-screen (it printed as an orange glow - and I was working from a printout!) Good catch before I rework those legs!

Jeff - Wasn't it you who mentioned working directly from the computer screen as a reference - I'll have to give that a try! As far as graying down the background, I think you're right.

Thanks again!

Terri,

You may also want to soften the lines both where the water meets the trees and where the trees meet the sky. Also between the dark and light patterns within the trees. Those hard lines tend to bring the background closer and will begin to compete with your subjects.

So here's where it's at now - with the above changes, if I've understood correctly?

and the close-up.