The ball and the claw
Kim,
Love it! I was hoping you were working on this because I was really looking forward to it. I think you did a great job so far.
One of the reasons the hand looks clawlike is that you've rendered the muscle between the thumb and the carpal area as an egg shape. I'm sure on the reference it is also an egg, but it's interfering with your opportunity to model the knuckles more finely. You may want to make it a more concave shape. Also, folding the index finger in to vary the shape might be pleasant. This extreme foreshortening is definitely a challenge. You could always have her grasp the fabric then turn her wrist so that
I like the background the way you have it, though the chroma might be intense on the leaves. But the way you've got the light breaking the contours on the leaves shows a rear light source and implies light motion... It's totally effective for me as a viewer. I'm not the most sophisticated viewer, though, so I'll just let it go at that.
The belly is great! I wasn't drawn to it right away - I think the lightness and shape of her hair and head drew me there first, then on downwards. I know we talked about this before, and I still say if you're going to make a statement, go ahead and make it. I have an affinity for bellies, having sported one for about 4 years off and on, and I bet many people will feel the same way. On the other hand, there are a lot of traditions in figural art that you're defying, (consciously, I know), and yet somehow I get the impression you're certainly not going to crumple at a few withering stares.
You should get this done as a giclee and offer it to every OB in a tri-county area.
|