[John de la Vega]

Hi Linda, Michelle, and other participants, since Michelle mentions something I said about backgrounds going back (true, but not my original idea, I was paraphrasing Sanden who was probably paraphrasing somebody else, nothing's new under the sun, something like "the first thing a background should do is stay back") I jump in here--

Great job, Linda: sensitive expression, delicate and subtle drawing and color/value arrangement, expressive image as a whole, even with the 'painterly quirks' others have commented on/corrected. I agree with most of these, with the additions and subtractions (even when didactic, I myself would hesitate to modify somebody's work to make a point, unless the change/s were instantly removable, as I sometimes do in my workshops). My comment, and this applies to a lot of portraits today, and even quite a few of the past, is that most of us are too concerned about 'delineating', 'separating' everything, area from area, material from material, form from form (even the small forms of the bulb of the nose, yes, in this case a bit too pronounced). It is as if we were mandated, under threat of punishment, to indicate, without leaving the eye any doubt, where something begins and ends, where there's change, small or large. This, Linda, in your portrait totally within reasonable boundaries (pun intended) still robs it from some artistic quality. It also creates some, albeit small, stiffness.

Analysis is always needed for accuracy and clarity, but then 'perceptual synthesis' should kick in. The reason is that our perception does not take in outlines (light and distance of course major factors in this equation), does not separate pieces/elements from other elements by their boundaries. Even in more light, arm from chair, contour of head from background, etc. Our perception tends to FUSE, blend, combine, resolve in larger Gestalts (patterns), so that paintings which mimic the way we perceive reality communicate more strongly. That's where and when the sweeter music plays (on those edges, always the all-important, all-present BIG E's, in the FUSING referred to, simplistically, as 'lost edges'), where even a beautiful rendering becomes art, where the obvious becomes mysterious, suggestive, intriguing, in other words, where a painting turns into true emotional material.