Study in oil

[Chris Saper]

Dear Lon,

This is a beautiful painting, and it also my favorite of those you have shared. The drawing is beautiful. The pose is so restful and solid, and the hands are so beautifully rendered, up to the level of the entire piece.

Finding things to critique is a stretch, and I have only two comments. Subject to the limits of my monitor, it seems to me that the colors in both light and shadow are equally cool, and that the colors in shadow are darker versions of the color in light. If it were me, I would choose a temperature for the light, (you could probably go either way with the light source), and let the hues run to the opposite temperatures in shadow. Generally I would expect to be seeing a lot of greens in blond hair in shadow.

My only other comment, is that the brass knob on the table seems to be too light in value, or perhaps too sharp in edge so that it jumps out of the shadow.

Wonderful piece!
Chris