Emma

[Allan Rahbek]

Mary,

I went through a photo session yesterday with my daughter. She left for Spain on a three week language seminar. So I decided to shoot some photos by her to paint from.

These were taken in our garden with some flowering bushes as part of the background.

But I had to ask her out three times, to shoot, because I was not sure of what exactly I was looking for.

Finally, today, I choose one from the first session, because I feel that it expresses some of her personality in a way. That will be my reason for doing this painting.

Why , I also, think that your second reference is good, is that the light is soft and shows the little girl in a harmonious pose.

And I can not ignore the fact that she is blind, and think of how she must perceive the world.

There are several structures of fabric and other materials around her, such as her dress in silk and knitting with embroidered flowers on. Her mother has of course chosen the colors, but with regard to the preference of her daughter, if she could have, I guess. Also there is the iron decoration on the veranda that can be explored with the sensible fingers of a blind.

She also seem to be listening, like "seeing" with her ears.

Only one thing bothers me. That is the white diagonal line pointing at her face. I would suggest that you take it away.

Allan

[Michele Rushworth]

Mary, it was mostly the dress that I found distracting but if it's important to the family in some way that needs to be taken into consideration, of course. I didn't notice her hands were behind her back. That doesn't bother me at all. I think it was a few other subtle things: her ambiguous expression, the fairly flat light, and there seems to be some camera distortion, as if you were very close to her when this shot was taken.

All this is moot if photo sessions are stressful for the little girl, though. If I were in your shoes I'd go with this shot.