The Trumpet
 

Oil on canvas, 24x18

This is a portrait of my nephew.

All critiques gratefully accepted. Digital demonstration OK.

Chuck,

Well, now we

Steven,
Many thanks for your critique. I will be working on making those changes that are achievable with this painting.

I have to confess to taking the reference myself, so I have no one to blame for the pose and composition but myself. It seems a recurring problem with composition in my paintings to make things too squared-off, losing dynamism, and blocking rather than inviting. Maybe I'm thinking too much like an engineer. I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestion of resources on the fundamentals of composition.

I understand. As a one-time engineering student, I still to this date use graph paper whenever I write anything in longhand. Some kind of vestigial yearning for order (and neurotic control), I guess.

I'll follow up on the question about composition, but in the interim, you might consult the "Composition" section of the Forum, in the area called "The Portrait".

As a recovering IBM Systems Engineer, in one of my former lives, I understand what you mean, Chuck. I fit into that job like a round peg in a square hole...

Anyway, as to composition: angles and curves create dynamism, straight line horizontals and verticals create stability. In a nutshell, if you want to liven up your paintings you should try and pose people and things in arrangements with bold angles or curves.

Apologies for something very confusing in my critique, owing to an omission of a few words. I wrote:

"... there is for example a very marked value difference between the boy

After being interrupted by moving to a new home, I've gotten back to this painting. It is still in progress; I particularly want to work more on the trumpet and hands. I thought I would post it now so people can run up, waving their hands, shouting, "No, no! You're going the wrong way!"

A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth -- Sargent
 

I worked quite a bit on the mouth; it's closer, but not there yet. Any suggestions?

And it was only after posting the image that I realized how pink his face had gotten.

Finished
 

Here is the finished painting.