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Thank you Mary and Erika...and a belated thanks to Linda.
I am trying to work on pose, location and light in my pictures - broadening the angle of the lens as it were. I have always had a strong passion for Jan Vermeer. I really love the way he gives the viewer the impression that you have just interrupted the subject in some intimate moment (reading a love letter or weaving or pouring) and how that moment tells us so much about that person - it is almost as if you feel privileged to have shared the moment (of course Vermeer could make you feel privileged in the presence of a potato). Anyway, that is what I am trying to do here with Thomas - capture not only an interrupted moment but also the nature of his relationship with me, his father (I think he looks pleased to see me and he's definitely very relaxed having me around. I want to remember that when I look at this painting, especially as I know when he reaches his teens (he's 12 now) he'll gain a little awkwardness around me and acquire that teenage embarassment at even having parents). I don't think that I could have achieved any of this with a more formal pose. Sometimes the pose can hide the person.
In terms of the technical issues that you raised Mary - the carpet is basically stippled and the paint applied pretty thickly to the cushions. With the shirt I started of with an undercoat of blue and then applied shades of white on top and scraped through some of the finer lines.
I am glad to see that this painting has resuscitated some interest.
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