|
Thank you all for your comments on this portrait. Many of you commented on the chair - I am not sure if it works in the context of the overall style of the painting. The level of realism is much higher in the chair compared to the relative painterliness of the rest of the portrait. I often wonder whether mixing levels of realism works. I would love to hear your opinions on this.
I am not a big proponent of smiles in portraits. There is a term used in psychology called the "Duchenne Smile.'" A Duchenne Smile is a genuine expression of emotion - a smile that shows in the muscles around the mouth and particularly in the expression in the eyes. This kind of genuine smile is compared to the "Pan Am" smile, named after the smiles characteristic of airline attendants and characteristic of yearbook photographs. Unfortunately my experience is that we have been taught to give Pan Am smiles, to smile on cue rather than in response to a genuine emotion. As a portrait painter I often have difficulty in eliciting a Duchenne Smile in my subjects - genuine expression of emotion is often equated with a broader grin. Toothy smiles in portraits are my bane as my teeth tend to turn out as bad whitening jobs. Fortunately in this photograph I managed to get the subject to give me a genuine smile - but believe me it took a lot of work.
|