My wife & cello

[Mark Lovett]

16x22 Oil on linen - Comments will be much appreciated.

[Patti Del Checcolo]

A very nice painting Mark. Reminds me of some of the "Old Master's" work.

[Lisa Ober]

I have no room to critique but I will say that I think your composition is very nice and your wife is lovely. I like how my eye is drawn immediately to her face then to the cello and then back again. Sure looks good to me.

[Marta Prime]

I think the painting itself is well done, soft and sensitive, and I especially like the way you handled the dress. Very nice!

This is more of an opinion than a critique, but I think the composition would have been better if more of the cello was represented in the painting. Sort of like seeing the painting through a camera's eye and zooming out a bit. Or maybe if she had been touching the cello in some way, to make a connection between the two. It seems as if the cello is leaning against her, but the two seem strangely separate.

What do you think?

[Piety Choi]

I really agree with Marta. I like this painting a lot. Especially, the classic mood, color and light arrangement... . But I felt something missing in there. That was the connection between Mark's wife and the cello. I was about to say it, but Marta did it first. If Mark's wife's beautiful fingers are touching around string or rim of the cello, it could be making more melody??? It's not a critique, just my thought.

Piety

[Scott Bartner]

Mark,

I agree with the others that the paint handling is well done and the piece has an intimate mood. I'm reminded of the figurative work of Corot.

Generally ones attention is drawn to the lightest light next to the darkest dark which in this case is her blouse next to the dark side of the cello. (Flip the painting upside down and see where your eye goes.) The obvious choice would be to direct the viewer to the woman's face yet for some reason I'm not bothered by your choice not to take the obvious route.

I would have liked to see a hand as well, not only to establish a connection between musician and instrument, but to add additional interest and further identify the subject, her fine features mirrored by slender, graceful fingers. Be careful for sharp edges like the contour of her left shoulder.

Is there a market for portraiture in Potomac? I always wondered if portraits hung on the walls of those huge estates.

[Mark Lovett]

Thanks to all who were so kind to take the time to post their comments. I agree that a hand on the strings would be nice.

Scott, I love your work, and yes there is a portrait market in Potomac but I have not tapped into it much yet, although I hope to in the future.

This is what happened to the hand. I used a single incandescent light source coming from the cello side, and the hand was very close to the light resulting in a too bright and distracting hand. I would have had to title it "The Hand". Now I see from your many helpful comments that if I do another painting of this subject I will try and arrange the lighting in a manner that allows the hand to make contact with the cello with more subdued lighting on the hand.

[Luca Vallifuoco]

Well done! But it seems so dark..Real paint is dark like photo or is the photo?

[Chris Saper]

Gosh, Mark I can't believe I didn't see this right away, my apologies!

I actually love this painting, and find it very Old World in its feel, contemplative, and gorgeous in its color harmony. I like the composition, the brushwork, and am not troubled one bit about the dominance of the cello. (My husband once nearly was removed from a plane for refusing to give up his seat to a cello. Eventually, the cello won.)

Fortunately for you, you still have both wife and cello (and hand), and can keep going on this beautiful theme.

[Mark Lovett]

Chris,
Thank you very much for your generous comments! Sorry to hear about your husband losing his seat to a cello. That's very funny. I will have to share that with my wife. Im sure she will enjoy that tid bit.
Mark