[Garth Herrick]

Hi Carol,

I really like this a lot. I like the concept and the attitude and I really like the Manet-like painterliness and your use of color.

One thing that bothers me on first impression is that the boy and the Teddy seem to be floating a little. I don't fully sense their weight upon the seat cushion. Seeing how you have carefully rendered the shadows makes me question my own first impression, and I am trying to figure out what the phenomenon is behind my impression.

I think there may be several factors contributing at once. One has to do with the way the color turns so consistently blue in the shadow, and I sense you are deliberately striving for this color effect. Another factor is that the orange trousers and yellow shirt maintain full intensity right to the blue shadow edge, making what is probably an unnatural color transition, since there is no hint of warmth reflected in the shadow where the orange meets the blue. A third is that the rendering of the shadow itself suggests the boy is floating an inch above the cushion surface; perhaps there are more subtleties in your reference image as to how the intersecting shadow turns and breaks in the light.

Tweaking any one of these possible factors will probably resolve this floating issue.

I hope this helps. Again, welcome, and I look forward to seeing more of your works.

Garth