Amanda

[Marta Prime]

I've been a member of this Forum for a long time but never posted anything. I have been increasingly anxious to do so however, so here goes. How can anyone take you seriously if they have never seen your work? I struggled between posting it here or in critiques, so if someone has a burning desire to do a critique on it, it can be moved with no heartburn.

This is my niece, Amanda. She had hinted from time to time about my doing a painting of her, so I told her to bring whatever she wanted to wear over, and we'd do a photo shoot. She came over with a brown paper bag with two dresses in it. One was clearly her favorite, and as she put it on we realized it would no longer zip up in the back because she had outgrown it. I assured her it wouldn't matter in the finished photo or painting. She turned out to be one of the best models I ever had. She just turned 11, and this captured her just before she started leaving girlhood. She posed live for finishing touches.

I played around with my camera settings until I got some shots I could at least live with. I have no idea what reducing the pixels to fit in here will do the the image, so I'm crossing my fingers.

[Marta Prime]

Here's a closeup.

[Elizabeth Schott]

Good heavens Marta, you are such a good aunt! What a challenging dress, I think I would have made her put it back in the bag!

Good for you for posting too!

[Karin Wells]

I am so glad you posted this piece. It is very nicely done and I most especially like your composition.

[Marta Prime]

Thank you so much for your kind words! I have to admit, when I saw the image posted I looked at my husband and said, "Does the painting look this bad in person? I mean, who am I kidding?" Of course, he assured me that it just wasn't the same. I can't see the detail in the picture like it shows in the painting.

This has been a great learning experience, and one more difficult than I imagined.