Suggestions?

Mary Sparrow · 10-15-2003, 10:02 AM

Does anyone have any suggestions for painting a father and 25 year old son together?

I have been asked to do this. The mother had one done many moons ago of herself and the two girls. Now she wants one of her husband and Alex.

She is torn between doing them as they are now, or finding photos of them when they were young. I told her I doubted she would have what I needed for that, but she is looking anyway. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how I would paint two grown men? From what I remember about the painting of the girls, it was VERY casual. The mom relaxed in a chair holding the 2year-old, with the 5 year-old resting on her leg, so I would assume they would want something casual of the men. I feel like she is flexible enough to let me do whatever I want, any suggestions?

Inside? Outside? Standing? Sitting?

I'm sort of excited about trying this since I'm so used to doing young children, not to mention these are two very handsome men!

Mary Sparrow · 10-15-2003, 10:03 AM

The one she has is approximately 24" x 36", so she is going to want something similar in size, if that helps any?

Steven Sweeney · 10-15-2003, 12:31 PM

Tough call, Mary, as the possibilities are infinite.

I think I'd put "Dad" in front, or at least somehow in prominence and stature. (That doesn't mean he couldn't actually be half-sitting while the son stands behind. Just means I'd give the father his place of honor. [Just self-analyzed that to note that I'm writing as a father, but I'd expect the same if my dad were still around and sitting for a portrait -- something he might have tolerated but which would have greatly amused him.])

Do these two have hobbies? If they golf, I can picture one composition, if they hunt, another, pool sharks, another still. I see them in contrasting poses, at the very least, in some dynamic design helix rather than side-by-side.

I guess a visit to the SOG Galleries might be a useful place to start, though you've likely already been there.

Mary Sparrow · 10-15-2003, 08:52 PM

OH..well, I emailed the wife and asked this woman what their hobbies were, thinking golf or hunting would be the typical response, these are wealthy people, he a lobbyist in DC...but the answer I got, I don't think Cynthia would appreciate me repeating

And she stated that she just didn't think that would make a nice portrait. Only that she would like it casual, in button downs and jeans.

Kimberly Dow · 10-15-2003, 09:42 PM

I have no useful suggestion, but I am obsessing over trying to figure out what their hobbies could be that could not be mentioned here.

Scott Bartner · 10-16-2003, 05:25 AM

Okay Mary, here's your composition. Now I think you're going to have to tell us about the hobbies. It gets dull here during the winter months and I'm always open to new pursuits.

Linda Brandon · 10-16-2003, 11:22 AM

Mary,

I think the two-adult composition is the hardest to manage. You have two equal masses that need to relate to each other and balance without becoming boring or dull. You also don't want to put too much attention on one party and neglect the other or cause speculation about dominance of either party (this is the problem with a lot of wedding photos). With a father and son portrait you should be safe with giving the father the dominance, but the son may steal the show anyway.

I love the composition in this linked painting. It's called "The Fallen Angels", painted in 1833 by Francois-Barthelemy Cibot. These men are nude, or arguably so, and I'm linking the painting instead of posting it.

http://www.joslyn.org/permcol/images/1995_60.jpg

I love the way the red sash and the snakes tie the two men together and give unity, flow and undulation. And can't you just hear them plotting what to do to get even?

I had a long conversation once with this painting, years ago, at the Jocelyn Art Museum in Omaha where I was the only one in the museum except for a sleeping guard. It had a lot to tell me about the nature of evil, beauty, ego... all the "good, bad and the ugly" nature of the universe.

Mike McCarty · 10-16-2003, 12:01 PM

Mary,

The problem with two's is that we want them to be three's, or one's.

In the first example below Bart Lindstrom uses the fence to suggest a third element. But in the next example, Sargent's "Mrs. Warren and Daughter," he brings the subjects so close that compositionally they almost show as one. Nice for mother and daughter but maybe not for father and son.

The next example is a little more figurative but shows an interesting interaction.

Mike McCarty · 10-16-2003, 12:04 PM

Sargent's

Mike McCarty · 10-16-2003, 12:06 PM

More of a figurative approach ...