Costa Rican Boy

[Patricia Joyce]

I just returned from ten days in Costa Rica. What a beautiful country it is. I took lots of pics but this is the only one that I might be able to use for a portrait painting some day. This adorable boy played all afternoon on the beach and I think by this photo he knew he was my "subject". His mother was delightful and enjoyed that I was photographing him!!

[Sharon Knettell]

Patricia,

As adorable as he obviously is, I would have trouble using that as a reference for a painting.

This has nothing to do with the subject matter, color or quality of the photo, all of which are fine.

It is an odd thing, but even good photos somehow do not translate well to painting and this is one of them.

The major problem is the pose. The foot is pointing toward us in an awkward angle, somewhat foreshortened. The leg is also foreshortened and part of the foot is cut off. In my opinion the pose would be hard to read translated to a painting.

There is too much going on, the pose has several different trajectories, arms, legs etc. placed against a very busy background. A good rule of thumb to follow is: simple background, complex figure; complex background, the figure contained in a simpler shape.

There is also an errant wisp of hair diving toward his eye, which also would be distracting.