Sara Mac
 

This child is actually a commissioned piece, not one for my project. We took the pictures this morning and it was a nightmare. She was NOT in the mood to be photographed. As they were preparing to leave, with the intention of doing it another day, she got distracted by my dog and I snapped this one and her mother really likes the expression and look.

How does it hold up as a reference photo in your opinions. Originally we were planning on just doing a head and shoulders, but I kind of like her little hands.

Mary Smith that's a pretty nice photo. I see that you have some foliage and a chair blocking some of that ambient outdoor light and creating some shadow, good idea.

I wouldn't let this stop you from having the little girl back for another attempt. She is a cute gal I would get all I could from her.

I love this photo and I would paint from it with no hesitation! I'd warm up the shadows on the skin somewhat, though. I think the cool pinks in the light and the cool pinks reflecting up from the chair are a bit too much the same. Otherwise, lovely!

Bring her back for another sitting if you want, but this is a good photo, and I think you can do well with it. Those hands might be a little difficult in that position, but give it a try.

Avoid the temptation to paint the inside of her mouth as dark as it appears in the photo.

Could you detail your environment when you photographed her? Did you use a digital, or film, lighting or just natural daylight? Any reflectors used? Just curious.

I love the effect natural lighting has on subjects, expecially little kids. They don't seem as intimidated by just sitting in a chair as much as they do when they walk into a "studio" set up.

I like the photo and if the mother likes it, take it and run! However, if the mother liked it the best out of what was taken, you might consider another shoot. If she looked at it and said, "Oh, that's the one!", then your pretty safe.

Love that precious little face! The expression is priceless.

I think she's got it in her to give you a few more interesting shots. Now you know you need surprise props to get her best expressions, so bring in the clowns! Or puppies, or whatever.

If you do take this one, I'd leave the hands out. The hand on our left is a nice gesture, but the hand on our right has its fingers compressed with the ring finger in an awkward place. It might be hard to make them look like you did them "right." Also it might be nice to get a shot where the poofy sleeve on our left is not so elevated, it rather sticks out in a weird way. But the cast shadows under her collar are a very nice touch - you could probably do a vignette of head-to-bodice and leave out the shoulders and hands quite convincingly.

Thanks for the responses..
 

We tried to take some more this morning, and while they were better than the first batch on a whole..this one is the best of her face and expression. And the one the mom likes the most.

So I'm moving forward with this one. Like I said the original goal was to do just the head and shoulders, no background. Then I considered the whole image, and so on.

Lisa, I think I will try your suggestion, I can always add the shoulders if we think it needs it and just not make that other sleeve so poofy, I do agree that her hands might be hard to do, so Im all for nixing that idea.

Im leaving for the beach tomorrow for a much needed break and will be starting this one Monday, so if anyone has any brilliant ideas please share.

I nearly always paint from B&W photos. Value is initially more important to me than color. I take extensive color notes and refer to them for the top layers in the painting.