[Garth Herrick]

Carlos,

I love the quiet elegance of this portrait. I agree that having worked directly from life, you have achieved a classical presence in your son, that ordinarily gets lost with the fleeting captures of photography. I love the simple color and tonal harmony. The black coat and neutral background resonate well with your son's striking dark hair and deep brown eyes. I also like the slightly understated, diminished, quiet flesh color development. Since you worked this up from life, I'm sure there is a strong, closely observed color fidelity.

While I am always fond of Frank Duveneck's paintings (he is among my favorite painters), I feel the example shown above represents a very differnt personality and feeling than what you are striving to represent. I like the quiet understated flesh tones in your portrait as they are. If you feel you must make things brighter, I'd say, do it with caution and subtlety.

Thanks for sharing this!

Garth