Alexandra--what an intriguing question. It has a multi-faceted answer that I almost wish had more insightful planning than it actually does.
First of all, I changed the clothing idea after I'd all but finished the first portrait of Lauren. You can view the original on
http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?t=9133 . At the time, this was the best painting I'd done and the client loved it. But I'd received several people's feedback, all independent from one another, that the clothing choice didn't seem to go with an equestrian portrait. In addition, I hated that the arm led the eye right off the canvas. I'd wanted to bring her hand up to help the composition, but Lauren thinks her hands are "ugly" and specifically asked me not to include them.
After spending a week at Bill Whitaker's studio shortly after I had worked on this portrait, I realized I needed to start completely over. After watching him work, I felt I could do a much better technical job of painting than I had already done and I also realized I needed to make some necessary compositional changes. He encouraged me to do something interesting with the costuming and the current result was inspired by his fabric-wrapped beauties.
The color choice was mostly composition, but also character. Lauren, the girl in black, was a very serious girl during the photo shoot. Although I've seen her more light-hearted since, she really strikes me as laid back and serious most of the time. Black seemed appropriate both for the composition and character.
The other sister, Mallory, is very bubbly. She begged for a gigantic smile with the teeth showing--as well as wondering if she could wear hot pink in the portrait. I cringed. Her mother agreed that a closed-mouth smile would be best and we were able to convince Mallory that hot pink wasn't exactly timelessness or conducive to formal living room decor. White seemed to be a more subtle but still cheery alternative. And in my mind, I thought the play on contrast between the two girls would be kind of fun. Mallory hesitantly agreed, as most teenagers do.
Lastly, I decided to show Mallory's hand because Mallory seemed much more connected with her horse than Lauren did. Lauren definitely enjoyed riding, but she had other pursuits and concerns. Mallory was ALL horses. In turn, Lauren's horse seemed mostly distracted and distant from her, while Mallory's seemed more willing to "cuddle" with his owner. So the physical connection between the girls and their horses seemed appropriate, too. Sometimes I wonder if I made Lauren and her horse too emotionally detached from one another, but then I think that it's exactly what makes it an accurate portrayal.
Now that Lauren is redone and Mallory has a closed smile without any hot pink, everyone is happy. The girls love their portraits, the mother was impressed at how much more professional the second round of paintings looked, and--most importantly and most difficult to do--I'm finally satisfied. Although I still feel I have LOTS of room for improvement, I still think I've improved a lot with these portraits. Whew!
How was that for a really long-winded reply to your question?
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