Help please, cropping and edges

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Thank you Mike and Mari,

Your posts are just the type of things I was looking for. Yes, it will be a challenge to make her look like she's not 'pasted on'.

I spotted this little girl at one of my son's cub scout meetings and I approached the mom. I told her I was trying to build a portfolio and asked if I could photograph her child. I went over to their home last week and I have never taken great photos like these. I have been struggling with giving up other part time activities for portraiture and I believe it was divine intervention that helped me take these photos. What an amazing little girl and pose, it's practically all laid out in front of me now.

This little girl was a perfect model. Her mother is a very strict attorney who was able to come home for lunch to be present at the photo shoot. This little girl follows instructions like a robot! And she picked out her favorite dress, my only request was that it wasn't a print. Her mother stayed in the room until she realized she was a distraction, then left the room. Though the mom still peeked around the doorway every few minutes! After the photo shoot I stayed and colored in a coloring book with the little girl while the nanny fixed lunch. The little girl wanted to show me what she can do with crayons. She's going to draw me a picture in exchange for the portrait when I'm finished.

Mom had already told me that if she and her husband like the portrait, they would like to buy it. I guess that's one way to get (potential) commisions, hang out where kids go and approach their parents.

Back to the photo, since she's wearing a sleeveless dress I feel like I have to include the entire arm so it won't be cut off. Hence the larger format portrait, which I would love to attempt anyway.

I am still concerned about the pasted on look. Perhaps the background should be lighter around the figure, I've seen that on some of the portraits I've studied in books and on this forum.

Please, keep the comments coming, I'm learning so much.

Thank you,
Joan

[Mike McCarty]

Joan,

The pasted on look has more to do with execution than composition. Good luck

[Karin Wells]

Here are my suggestions.

I rotated the picture so that the eyes are parallel to the horizontal edge of the canvas. I think that this may make for a more interesting positioning on the canvas and eliminate the light/shadow division thet would go right down the center of the painting.

Have your background dark, simple and use a slight variation of value as an opportunity to lose and find edges of the face and figure.

A silhouette of a bow or ribbons on the back of the dress would be a good compositional device to make the negative space more dynamic. It would be a good opportunity to introduce a hint of another color plus maybe put a little touch of light on the dark side of the figure.

You can also make the space in front of the figure more interesting if you can paint her holding flowers. Oftentimes a touch of something darkish on the light side of the figure can enhance the overall look.

Leave plenty of "head room" in your painted portrait. It is only in photos that you can successfully get away with a close cropped figure.

[Mike McCarty]

What's not to like here! I wish this little girl lived near me, maybe I could get an early flight out. Karen, what a gift to Joan.

[Mari DeRuntz]

Joan,

Perhaps the background should be lighter around the figure, I've seen that on some of the portraits I've studied in books and on this forum.

Value is not arbitrary. Value is a tool you use to create a powerful composition. Once you start thinking like this, painting becomes even more fascinating! I think you might find this thread interesting; it's Peggy Baumgaertner's lecture on massing in 3-values.

You've got a lot of potential with this reference. I like the manipulations everyone has shown. I'd still like to see more details in the light. It's a common error to have the photo push the values too far in each direction: you can't see into the darks and the lights are washed out to form-flattening white.

[Jean Kelly]

Joan, If you choose not to paint this, will you e-mail me the image? I'd love to have such a wonderful reference!

Jean

[Chris Saper]

See a continuing discussion with Joan's compositional sketch here:

[Elizabeth Schott]

Karin, now we SEE where those beautiful glazed images come from in your work!

Jean I do agree with the above, it works very nice with a plain backgound. She is lovely! Good job on the photo.

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful comments. I had been away from my computer for the weekend and when I got back, I was so pleased to see comments and answers to my questions!

I love the idea of breaking up the negative space our right to make that dark space more interesting (with a bow), and I'll see if I can put in some flowers. I'll make sure the light source is coming from the same direction on the flowers.

I wasn't so sure about tilting her to make her eyes the same height but the more I look at how you tilted the photo Karin, the more I like that. Thank you for that suggestion!

Mike, regarding the background, since I'm fairly new at portrait paining, my plan is to keep the background simple! Painting the subject is tough enough for me.

Thank you again everyone for taking an interest in this project. I am still in that "I'm scared to start this one because I don't know if I can do it" phase. But I'll get over it, eventually, and begin painting.

Joan