Proud housewife

[Lisa Ober]

Carolyn, I think you have a gorgeous portrait of a gorgeous woman here. What character in her face! What a gentle treatment you have done as well. It's lovely. I really like the way you often leave some unfinished parts where the ground is left untouched however, I find the trasition in this one a tiny bit harsh. I think because our eye is led from the subject to the little table there is an abrupt stop there. I agree, maybe some looser strokes could be added. Maybe a bit longer transition from the subject to the table. Truth is, I have no room to critique such a nice work and what I have said is only my opinon...except the part where I said it was gorgeous. That's a fact! You know, I even like the first picture you posted. Just the head and shoulders works for me too.

[Carolyn Bannister]

Thanks everyone for the input, I actually agree with the points about the harsh transition but I went to such pains to keep the paper clean this time I wanted some input before I carried on.

I have made the adjustments to the background and the fingers but I won't bother posting them, I am definitely putting this one behind glass now.

It was a good practice of a more detailed look at a face and worth doing it for that.

Carolyn.

After reading Cindy's post in the oil critique section I decided to repost after taking onboard all valued input

[Allan Rahbek]

Now I am really nitpicking! These small frames don

[Carolyn Bannister]

Allan,

I couldn't agree more

To me it looks childish and amateurish

I've actually put it away in and started on a new one but now you've got me thinking about it again.

I thought about cropping it and just keeping the head and shoulders but I should rise to the challenge and figure out a way to make it work, I really would like to keep the depth to the room.

How about a curtain from ceiling to floor and make the whole of the back of the room very dark?

Maybe that's what I liked about the ref in the first place.

Thanks for taking the time to critique, I really do value your input.

[Mike McCarty]

I think this composition would be best suited to a full completion of the background.

When I first saw your reference I thought that it was the vertical wall segments, with their variations in value, that connected the foreground to the background. I think you could have more success by re-visiting your reference and covering the entire paper.

This is worth taking further, I think.

[Carolyn Bannister]

Not the best photo, it's blowing a gale outside, it was a struggle sticking it to the shutters (thats a professional photography term )

For some reason resizing it has made the table look a bit bent, but I think I've got away with it for real.

Is it a or a this time, if its a no I'm going to crop it

ps. Why do I feel just like I did in school when I always got ' could do better' on my reports.

[Allan Rahbek]

Originally Posted by Carolyn Bannister

Is it a or a this time, if its a no I'm going to crop it

Please don