Portrait of Hope

[Steven Sweeney]

I started here with one version of observations, then moved my laptop a bit and found that some of the points about the value design were mooted by seeing the image from a slightly different monitor angle. But there are still a few areas to which attention might be brought to bear, if not in revision of this piece, then in planning the next.

The very busy foliage background sets up a lot of competition for your subject, who is youthful and delicate and simple in presentation, and this tends to deflect attention away from the portrait subject. More problematic is that every value in the scale is represented somewhere in the background, so that it doesn

[Steven Sweeney]

Never run dry of words, only time . . .

I did a portrait of my son, 7 years ago now, with his alto saxophone, and I'd used a mixture for the brass instrument that I'd learned from Helen Van Wyk. It was great but was very warm, very red. Chris Saper suggested a contrast of a cool-temperature lemon yellow in a highlight area, and that became the kick that launched the horn from ordinary to essential element. Lemon yellow is a bit green, which was the contrast I needed in a highlight on a reddish brass.

You might try that. Look for the ONE small area on the horn that is receiving the MOST light. Get a tube of lemon yellow and load up the brush. Practice the movement, and then lay in a Nike swoosh of color and leave it alone. Don't see that particular temperature contrast in the reference photo? No worries. The photo is merely a reference, not a standard. You are creating something that is coming together under your control as the artist.

I'm betting that would be a big hit on this. But, too -- your brass color is a bit dull, so you "could" also work some warmer, reddish complements into other parts. A large, complicated metal object is pulling in and reflecting colors from throughout its environment. The "brass" of the receiving tube isn't even an approximation of the "brass" color of the flared bell section that is being influenced by other direct and reflected light sources.

[Steven Sweeney]

The image was still up in Photoshop on the computer I used for the earlier comments, and at a glance I found that I should suggest that the shadow on the side of her cheek (our right, her left) is probably too dark. Likely more clumping of values in a photographic reference. And that dark value shape lying next to a much lighter value shape creates a fold or crease between the two areas, rather than the softer turning of the form that we "know" is there.

This effect varies between monitors, so you'll have to use your own judgment about what the painting "really" looks like, and whether this is in fact an issue.