Please critique Rosa with Queen Anne's Lace

This is Rosa, she's 3. This is 18" x 14". I'd be very appreciative of a critique.

Please feel free to comment on anything that catches your eye. I have some concerns too. Are my edges OK? Is the reflected light too intense, or not enough? The sun is almost directly overhead.

The image is small because I cannot upload anything larger than 35K to this forum without timing out. I dunno why. If you would like a larger, higher quality image, the picture is here and the closeup is here.

Thanks!

The image

The closeup.

[Genway Gao]

Lisa,

Because this is a profile portrait, the ear and its surrounding area appear as a focus point as well as the facial area. More details need to be added on ear and hair area behind it.

Color harmony is very good, add more highlight on shoulder area (both cloth and skin). Background area on top of the hair where highlighted does not need to be darkened, instead, you should lighten it, so the hair would appears more loose and bright.

Still, it is a well done, renaissance style master piece, I really love the color!

Genway Gao

[Kimberly Dow]

Lisa,

This is beautiful! My favorite of yours so far. The only things that catch my eye is the ear just a bit and that flower that is touching the front of her dress. I can't tell if it is supposed to be actually on the front of her dress - like it blew there?

Thanks Genway and Kim. I will try some of your suggestions - I hadn't really thought about the ear as a focal point. But I think I missed the boat a little there, I probably can refine it and add some orange values for that special eary translucence babies have.

Kim, the front flower is leaning into her. It's casting a shadow on her dress. You probably can't see it from the photo but there's a bit of a stem angling off to the right. I'm conflicted about that flower - I like the shadow it's casting, it reinforces the cast shadows on her hand, but it does seem a bit incongruous now that you bring it up.

Thanks!

[Linda Brandon]

Charming and fresh color, Lisa, very well done in a painterly and confident style.

My only quibble is how you've bisected her arm, or is that just how you cropped the photo to scan to the Forum?

Thanks for your kind words, Linda. Actually, Rosa really likes the painting, and that makes me pretty happy! She walks past it and says "That's Rosa!" several times a day. I think she was happy to beat out her sister, who is still unfinished (the painting, that is).

Regarding the bisection of the arm, well, yes I did that. I realize it's a rule, but I didn't think it was a big whup at the time. Now I wish I'd made her a little smaller so I could have fit her whole arm on the canvas.

I didn't mention it before, but I should really give thanks to Chris Saper. I just got her book and it made this a LOT easier than it would have been! I have been struggling to find and maintain "fresh" flesh colors and Chris' advice was indispensible.

[Chris Saper]

Dear Lisa,

I am looking at the images in your link, since it is easier to see the detail. You have done a really nice job here! I will try to address the questions you have specifically asked.

Edges. The soft turning edges are nicely rendered, especially the curve of the cheek, and the eye socket. When I look at the detail, the sharpest edge I see is the nostril, which is probably not where you want the viewer's eye to focus. This edge could be softer, and perhaps a little warmer in temperature. Then you will be able to judge whether its value is correct. There are several other edges you may want to consider: the forms of the ear; the edge of the upper lip in light; and the nasal-labial fold, but only slightly.

You might want to consider the effect of adding a bit more value/edge detail to the hand, so that the viewer's eye gets a little exercise.

Reflected light/color. I think the color of the reflected light is excellent, but the value could be dropped just a tiny amount darker, both under the chin and under the nose.These areas will then move right back into the shadow. The cast shadow on the upper lip is rendered rather warm, which I think may have caused you to emphasize the nasal-labial fold. You could cool the temperature a little and still achieve a sense of form without having to delineate it.

Since the ear is so prominent in the view, it is worthwhile to really attend to details about its size, shape and values. Ears are warmer in temperature than the skin on the face. Review your source photo for cast shadows within the forms of the ear. Also look for a fairly strong temperature differential at the tragus of the ear, the little flat c-shaped prominence at the center front of the ear. It's invariably cooler than the forms and shapes of the ear itself.

Good luck, I look forward to seeing more!

P.S. Thanks for the kind words on the book.