Berty

Julie Deane · 07-17-2004, 06:43 AM

One with a brighter dress and background

Joan Breckwoldt · 07-17-2004, 02:43 PM

Julie,

I think the very last one, the close-up with the black hat, is my favorite. Her face has so much character. I like the shape of that hat better, it doesn't hide her face.

If it were my choice, I would either paint her in that striped chair (but without the stripes

, or I would paint a head and shoulders of her from the last photo. I think it depends on whether you want to do a 3/4 or a head and shoulders. I really like her expression on that last one though . . .

Joan

Julie Deane · 07-18-2004, 01:02 PM

She has a lot of character, but just look at how crooked her lips are!

I'll probably take more photos. I need to learn a lot more about lighting anyway.

I really liked the first one best myself. I do see what you mean about the neck though. How do you solve the lighting of a person who is wearing a hat?

Joan Breckwoldt · 07-18-2004, 05:31 PM

Julie,

There's nothing wrong with her lip. That's what her lip looks like. I think as portrait artists we have to seek out what is individual about each person, that's what makes everyone unique and beautiful. It looks like, from the other photos, that's what her lip looks like. (Oh, tongue twister.) If you change it, she won't look like herself.

I think you must have chosen this woman to paint because she is a beautiful unique individual, don't try to make her into some cookie-cutter model.

Just my opinion.

On the other hand, as far as the photo with what I think is too much focus on her neck, yes, that's her neck, but it isn't shown in the best light. So I wouldn't paint from that reference photo. I see these two points differently, can you see what I mean? The lip is unique feature, but the neck looks worse because of the light. I hope I'm explaining this satisfactorily.

Joan

Jean Kelly · 07-19-2004, 01:21 PM

Hi Julie,

I've come back to these photos many times now, and the first one has grabbed me and won't let go. There is such dignity in that face, and her neck doesn't bother me at all. I feel she's earned every wrinkle and is proud of it. There seems to be a lot of noise in the image (stray pixels of color), is the original better? I would paint from this, but would be very careful to keep the hat very soft and transparent so it doesn't take over. Also I would give a little more room around her head. A fascinating subject, I'd like to know her.

Jean

Julie Deane · 07-19-2004, 02:45 PM

Hi Jean -

It was shot on a very low pixel digital camera at the equivalent of 200 ISO, which is probably why the noise. I am assuming that the more pixels, the less noise?

Jean Kelly · 07-19-2004, 09:45 PM

I tried putting your image in my quickie photo program to clean it up but the image just wouldn't transfer large enough to work with. Maybe you could e-mail the image to me or someone else with photoshop knowledge could help. She reminds me of my "Jacque" portrait.

Is this the camera you are using for all your photo ref work? Try changing your ISO to 50 or the smallest number you have. You should get less noise.

Jean

It's not the amount of pixels it's the size of the pixel. You should be able to get a decent photo on yours even if you have little pixels.