Thanks Richard! Growing up, I used to draw very detailed drawings, but so softly on the paper that the darkest value was probably a 7 and all the shading was collapsed into that range. Avoiding contrast the way some people avoid conflict.
I still have to remind myself to make sure the darks are dark enough!
Hey there Garth-- Thanks so much for all those nice comments! I've been trying to incorporate elements that reflect a bit about the subject just to keep things more interesting. . .
Julie - thanks! The clients haven't seen either portrait completed yet... will be contacting them early this week to arrange a viewing. I've got my fingers crossed.
Thanks John! The pinecones... well, for one thing they were really HUGE. In the background of the little girls portrait, there was a large bowl of them between the 2 candlesticks. And they were used decoratively around on window sills, etc. When I'd asked the Mom for suggestions of what might be meaningful to include with each of the children, these were suggested for the boy. He was too interested in my camera and computer set-up to want to talk about the pine cones, though... so I never got the story! They were kind-of-fun to paint. Here's the other one: