Tiny sweetie

[Molly Sherrick Phifer]

This is a figurative I am working on of my youngest son when he was about four years old. He had picked a beautiful bouquet of dandelions for me in my neighbors yard.

This was really just for fun as I had just received this sample of realgesso panel, which is 3.5 x 5.5 inches. This is my second work in oil (I usually work in pastels).

Note: the head is barely 1 square inch - the screen image is close to actual size.

[Lacey Lewis]

This is very cute and well done at such a small size! How are you liking the oil paints?

Continue to paint and post, I'd like to watch as you progress.

[Molly Sherrick Phifer]

I'm starting to really enjoy the oils. I just keep forgetting they're wet. I intend to keep going and find my way in working with them. I find that painting classes are much more about drawing skills than about handling the medium.

Working on something this tiny has really helped me in fine tuning the brush skills and paint handling in general.

I hope to become comfortable enough with oils to attend a portrait workshop. We'll see!

[Maria Nemchuk]

Originally Posted by Molly Sherrick Phifer

This was really just for fun as I had just received this sample of realgesso panel, which is 3.5 x 5.5 inches.

Molly,

was it a linen or gesso panel? How did you like it?

Nice job! (one little thing is bothering me though - the line where grass meets dark green trees is at the same level as your son's hair line. Did you design it that way?)

Maria

[Molly Sherrick Phifer]

This was a gesso panel, and I loved it. I like very smooth surfaces for drawing/painting, particularly because I paint children most of the time. I don't like to add the dimension of the weave to the texture of the skin. I am definitely going to order more of these panels!

I also noticed the line of the trees and the hair, but not until after it was done (duh!). I think I will change it. In the reference photo, that line comes in to the level of his eye as opposed to the hair. I'm not sure what I will do with it exactly. Any suggestions? I had always wanted to paint this little scene, but it is just a snapshot and so I decided it was perfect for this tiny experiment.

[Michele Rushworth]

Looks to me like you're ready to move on to bigger and better things. It seems that you have enough facility with this medium to move beyond these tiny panels and work at a larger size. I think the very small scale will only hinder you from here on out.

[Maria Nemchuk]

Molly, I would move the line up there it is does not interfere with facial features (but probably not above his head as it could visually "push him down" )