My Son and future Daughter In Law
 

I just started this portrait, so excuse the roughness. The question I have is about the color of the background. The photo was taken with them looking out a window so the background against her face is bright. I dont wan't a bright white background. Her skin is very fair so I think it should stand out against a darker background. Right now my son is mostly raw umber but he has a darker complexion, darker hair (she is very blond). The sweater is the color in the photo.

Any ideas???

Hi Patty,
Great composition! How about a grayed down Ultramarine for backup?

I would just continue the Hue and Value behind your son's head. I don't think adding a random color is a good idea because it will effect the unity of the light. During the workshop did I ever mention the teenie-weenie possibility of considering the color of the background BEFORE you take your reference? Something to consider next time?

Looks like it will be an awesome painting!

Thank you Allan and Marvin, for the encouragement and the suggestions. I took over 100 shots of the kids WITH a BACKDROP, but then JUST for fun I moved them to the window for natural light, and of course it became the best shot of them all!

I would opt for a combination of Marvin's and Allan's suggestions. What about taking the shadow color of your son's head and continuing it into the background, but cooling it a little with ultramarine. Then you have shadow color consistent with the other shadows, and the background will recede.

A variation of this would be using ultramarine and warming it with the shadow color. This would also grey it, but not randomly. Both variations can be lightened with white.

Thanks for your good suggestion, Alexandra. I have some playing around to do now...