Boy with Pinecones

[Terri Ficenec]

Mary, Michele, David -- Thank you--I'm thrilled at such a positive response!

This one practically painted itself. I really liked the way the light fell on him. The contrast in effort in painting this pair of siblings (with such a difference in lighting situations) will be strong in my mind on every reference shoot from here on out!

Thanks again!

[Jimmie Arroyo]

Terri, the parents are very lucky. I'd like to see how they decide to hang them. The boy flows from left to right, while the girl, right to left. The rendering is great on both. They came out ''TerriFic''enec. Sorry, could'nt help myself.

[Terri Ficenec]

Hi Jimmy - thanks!
LOL, Let's just say I'm glad I didn't marry someone named 'Ble'cker

Hmmm. It's my understanding that they'll be hanging in the same room. Not sure if they'll be on the same wall or not. The lighting is obviously different in the two of them, and their original settings (within the painting) are from two different rooms. We made a conscious decision to work with compositions that were best for each of them individually. Their canvases are the same size, but she's horizontal and he's vertical... so they don't work like a diptich (spelling?). I believe the intent is that one day each of the kids will get their own portrait.

[Garth Herrick]

Originally Posted by Jimmie Arroyo

Terri, the parents are very lucky. I'd like to see how they decide to hang them. The boy flows from left to right, while the girl, right to left. The rendering is great on both. They came out ''TerriFic''enec. Sorry, could'nt help myself.

You know Jimmie,

You should maybe choose your wording more carefully.. My Oxford Univeral Dictionary, of half a century ago, may not be quite up to date, but.....

Terrific ,a. 1667 1. Causing terror, terrifying; fitted to terrify; dreadful, terrible, frightful. 2. Applied intensively to anything severe or excessive. colloq 1809.

On the other hand you might have considered the word awful. After all it is about the same as "awesome".

Awful, a. OE. 2. Worthy of, or commanding, profound respect or reverential fear OE. 3. Solemnly impressive; sublimely majestic 1660. 6. Profoundly respectful or reverential 1593.

By the way, wording King Charles II might have chosen to express his opinion of the newly rebuilt St. Pauls Cathedral, in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London in 1666, might well have included 'Awful", and "Artificial"! In the context of his day, there could have been no higher compliment than those words of praise.

Something to consider next time you compliment someone here at the Forum!

Terri, I think you have painted an awfully fine pair of portraits. What more can I say? You are way more than terrific!


Garth

[Kimberly Dow]

Congratulations Terri! This one is as wonderful as the sisters.

[Terri Ficenec]

Kim, Thanks!
Hmmm Garth, already knew I was stuck with an awfully (difficult) name -- but did you have to rub it in?

[Timothy C. Tyler]

Originally Posted by Terri Ficenec

Thanks Richard! Growing up, I used to draw very detailed drawings, but so softly on the paper that the darkest value was probably a 7 and all the shading was collapsed into that range. Avoiding contrast the way some people avoid conflict. I still have to remind myself to make sure the darks are dark enough!

Hey there Garth-- Thanks so much for all those nice comments! I've been trying to incorporate elements that reflect a bit about the subject just to keep things more interesting. . .

Julie - thanks! The clients haven't seen either portrait completed yet... will be contacting them early this week to arrange a viewing. I've got my fingers crossed.

Thanks John! The pinecones... well, for one thing they were really HUGE. In the background of the little girls portrait, there was a large bowl of them between the 2 candlesticks. And they were used decoratively around on window sills, etc. When I'd asked the Mom for suggestions of what might be meaningful to include with each of the children, these were suggested for the boy. He was too interested in my camera and computer set-up to want to talk about the pine cones, though... so I never got the story! They were kind-of-fun to paint. Here's the other one:

Terri, those edges are great. The skin tones are delicate and rich too. I like!

We once lived on "The Rim" in AZ. There are 700 foot cliff that rises up to a huge plateau. We would drive up to a special spot on the plateau go to the cliff's edge and throw out huge pine cones like you painted. They weighed half as much as a baseball. The updraft from the warm valley was tremendous. This rising current was just strong enough to offset the weight of the huge pine cones and they would hover for minutes spinning almost stationary out there. Then, without warning, they would finally fly over our heads and then fall to earth as they escaped the updraft's power. It was very spiritual.

Anyway, You are really making lots of very good pieces & fast.

[Terri Ficenec]

How cool Tim-- sounds like fun! Just wondering... did you discover that phenomena yourself, or is it something that the locals out there all know about?

Thanks for the compliments on my work! You know being able to produce faster was one of my goals when I came to your workshop. (It seems to have worked )

[Timothy C. Tyler]

Originally Posted by Terri Ficenec

How cool Tim-- sounds like fun! Just wondering... did you discover that phenomena yourself, or is it something that the locals out there all know about?

Thanks for the compliments on my work! You know being able to produce faster was one of my goals when I came to your workshop. (It seems to have worked )

Terri, we were just trying to throw them off the cliff and noted it. The perfect technique was to throw really hard at a perfect horizontal, they naturally would pick up a backspin. On those summer day's you could not throw one off the the edge. Matt Smith used to come up there with us. (He's got a weak throwing arm-throws like painter...)