My wife's first love
 

After seeing Molly's posting of that beautiful photo I was almost afraid to post this. She sets the bar high. But I'm so glad she is sharing, she is so inspiring.(after I exhale my fear, self doubt and envy).

I would welcome your thoughts and suggestions on this reference photo. My plan is to make a very intimate portrait of my wife. 16" X 20"

I love the plants surrounding her. If I could see her aura this iswhat I imagine would be there. This will be my first attempt at underpainting and glazing. The magic will all be in the skin tones and shadows, her eyes and the soft color. I plan on doing live color sketches for reference also.(That will be a first for me).

Knowing that her face is mostly in the shade, I see some very delicate and tricky values changes in my future. If I get thumbs up from you all, I plan to start this week and post my progress in WIP. I hope my trials may help some of you other wanna be's.

I like this cropping better

Hi Peter,

I love the color scheme in this photo but I have to say that getting the color changes to look believeable in her face will be very difficult to do, unless you are a fairly loose painter and aren't going for a tight likeness. If you look around at what other professional painters do with outdoor portraits, you'll see what I mean.

Also, I would not shoot a woman outside who is over the age of 25 or 30 because I could get her to look so much better with carefully planned indoor lighting. Women as a rule want to look good, or interesting, and preferably both. Your wife is attractive and you can shoot her so that she is a knockout - not necessairly in a vampy sultry sense (depending on her personality) - but in a way that maximizes her winsome charm.

Hello Peter,

I second Lynda totally. A painting of a loved one is worth more than any commission and I truly mean that. So do not under any circumstances settle for second best.

If in case you still prefer a outside photo, for the color, and you don

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Linda, Mischa and Mark,

Thank you all for the honest feedback. "lighting, lighting, lighting, and design, design ,design" are now posted in my studio.

Linda- Thanks for pointing out my overlooking the first rule in Portraiture...please the subject.

Mischa- welcome to the forum and thank you for taking the time to jump in. The flowers and right hand do take away more than they add.

Mark- I like your instincts on this one. You hit it right on the money. The brightest part should be the face and not the flowers.

I hope others were able to learn from this as well. Thanks again!

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No, that's only the first rule in Portraiture when you paint your spouse.

Remember, everything you paint has your name on it, it means it's the best you can do at the time. Be sure you make yourself happy!