"N"

[Allan Rahbek]

Julie,
I think that this could be fine. But there is one detail that attracts my eye and that is the location of the nose. It should be moved to the left.

Allan

[Terri Ficenec]

Hi Julie--
This has a wonderful natural 'feel' to it, love the expression

You might want to glaze some transparent yellows over the earring on our right. . . as the two look mismatched right now

[Julie Deane]

Thanks, Allan and Terri -

****, Allan, you're right about the nose. ****, ****, ****! (gee, this website won't let me say the "d" word)

Thanks for the note about the yellow, Terry.

[Chris Saper]

Julie,

I very much like what is happening in this portrait! I like the unconventional lighting you have used...your light source looks very cool, and I think your skin tones work very well. For the sake of finish, I think I'd consider warmer reds in the under planes of the chin and nose, the latter of which will help define the shape of the tip of the nose more clearly.

I agree that the scale of the dress is perhaps too large. The red dress is too similar in shape and size to the draped background. Its powerful color will balance the painting well, I think, if you paint her shoulders in a more oblique position, letting the draped painting continue to the bottom of the picture, with fewer square inches devoted to the red shape. You have a beautiful color scheme going on, and simple, strong passages of value, giving the whole thing a very strong design, and I think some tiny changes can make it even more so. As an alternative, you might add a shawl over her shoulder on our left, similar in value and color to the background to diminish the amount of space the red dress takes...

I am also really nitpicking, but only because I think you are doing such a great job.

[Julie Deane]

Thanks, Chris. I have a potential problem with continuing the background painting downwards. It is done with extremely thinned paint - almost rubbed in to let the canvas shine through. The red paint of the dress has eliminated the possibility of getting down to that toned canvas. But I could extend the wall downward, using a similar tone to the painting. It's hard to see in this little jpeg, but there is a suggestion of the bottom of the frame there now. It wouldn't be too hard to continue the wall, just use thicker paint for that part.
The skin tone really did get too light - my friend is actually fairly tan, half native American, and I made her look like a paleface. Even though I can argue to myself that "it's just the lighting", I know better, and feel I need to darken up a bit.
Plus I have to fix that **** nose. This is the second portrait I have messed up on spacing in this area. I hate having "pet" goofs - that is, things that tend to show up the same time after time.
Please don't think I'm beating myself up too much over this - I like the painting too, and have hopes of making it something of which I will be proud.

[Sharon Knettell]

Julie,

I dunno, I like it just the way it is. I like the strong red shape with the modeled head, it successfully references the simple dark green square in the background. I do not find the nose disturbing and I like the pinky pale skin tones as a foil to the red and dark green. Leave it alone, it is a very descriptive and original portrait of an original artist. I really applaud the departure from photographic reality.

[Julie Deane]

Thanks, Sharon

Originally Posted by Sharon Knettell

I really applaud the departure from photographic reality.

Hah! That's me all right - especially when it comes to NOSES!

[Cindy Procious]

I agree with Sharon. Julie, this is beautiful. It's dramatic, full of emotion, energy, and vivid life.

I wouldn't change a thing.

[Claudemir Bonfim]

I like the painting very much, but there's someting about the eyes...
Is this a Dejavu for you?
I think about the dark line under her left eye, it should be 1 or 2 milimeters above the one in the painting.