Millie Kay

Julianne Lowman · 11-08-2002, 11:31 AM

I feel this 20" x 16" of a little girl on MiTeintes (rough side) completely captures her adorable personality.

I personally have a problem with the arms. (They look amputated.) Any suggestions?

Hanna Larsson · 11-08-2002, 11:55 AM

Adorable piece. I love the light on the hair.

The answer to your question is quite simple. The arms look amputated because you

Mai Ly · 11-08-2002, 12:27 PM

Julianne,

First, for this painting, I would either extend the arms further, or crop the painting to show less of the arms (see attached). Right now, they are distracting, especially where they have been cropped, and do not add much value to the painting. The cropped version will make the viewer focus more on her face, rather than the arms.

Second, I see the anatomy of her left shoulder has not been painted correctly, even under the folds of her shirt. This is because of where you put the folds in right under the shoulder. I would fix the folds under her left shoulder and move them down a little. The highlights on that shoulder should be extended down, judging from where the light source is coming from.

Also regarding her left sleeve, where it is painted makes her left arm look like a cylindrical rod. I would extend the sleeve down a little, on the side where it comes down to meet her underarm, so that it does not look so awkward.

I like the expression you have on the girl's face!

Mai

Julianne Lowman · 11-08-2002, 05:04 PM

Thanks for the fresh perspective! It's so much easier when other eyes look at a piece you've spent hours on. Actually, this one only took me a few hours to do. That's probably why the arms look so bizzare.

Thanks for the comments about the folds of the shirt. I never noticed them until they were pointed out. Now, looking at the picture, I wonder why I didn't notice something so obvious.

The rough side of some papers seem to give me more tooth than the smooth. I love the result.

Mai Ly · 11-09-2002, 12:59 PM

I know what you mean by having other eyes looking at your paintings. Especially when you have been spending hours on a painting, and having no one to bounce off ideas with.

Please let us see your final version when you are done with it.

Mai

Kris Coolens · 12-09-2002, 08:20 AM

Hi,

I like the portrait very much. But I also love the way you did the background. Your drawing illustrates the importance of a good background. It