Ballerina girl

Vianna Szabo · 02-25-2006, 11:03 AM

Cindy,

She is soft and lovely and you have done a wonderful job of showing her off with simple shapes. I love the handeling of the tutu. Years from now her parents can remember her as the angel she appears to be.

Vianna Szabo

Cindy Procious · 02-25-2006, 11:39 AM

Thank you LIsa and Vianna, for your generous compliments. It's funny you mentioned the tutu - I repainted that no less than 4 times - it gave me fits!

I forgot to mention that this is 24" x 36" Oil on canvas.

Linda Brandon · 02-25-2006, 12:15 PM

Cindy, this is so beautifully painted! Such nice edges and skin tones. I love the winsome pose as well. This painting has great charm without being cloying or too-precious, which is always the danger in my opinion with painting lovely little girls. You really have captured something very special here, well done!

Cindy Procious · 02-25-2006, 12:24 PM

Thanks, Linda. Actually, I thought it was cloying, but I will happily defer to you.

And, I thought of you and your comments about caricature when I was painting her lips. I believe I succumbed to the temptation to caricature them just a wee bit...

Terri Ficenec · 02-25-2006, 02:41 PM

Just gorgeous Cindy! Lovely fleshtones, and the tutu turned out beautifully!

Cindy Procious · 02-25-2006, 03:19 PM

I'm just glad that it's "flattered", and not "furious". LOL.

Thanks Sharon & Terri.

Garth Herrick · 02-25-2006, 03:28 PM

Hey Cindy,

I am glad this is posted on several fora, it's just stunning! I confess I first associated Sharon Knettel with this image as well; I am glad she is flattered. This being my third response in as many fora, you know you can count me in as a fan of yours too! Along with the total execution, I love the paint quality of the portrait. Such a soft descriptive light.

Garth

Cindy Procious · 03-03-2006, 08:30 AM

Thanks, Pat. It's 24" x 36". It's amazing how much paint you need to cover that sized canvas...

Sharon, this isn't a commission. I hired Sam (well, sort of - I gave her a stuffed bear as a thank-you) to sit for me, in order to have a full-figure sample piece.

Now I'm planning my shameless self-promotion. Here's what I've come up with so far:

The gallery that represents me has the painting hanging in their front window. I will go in and paint live in the gallery (something I've done a couple of times) for two weekends at the end of March.

I'm gearing all my ads and flyers towards Mother's day and graduation - sort of a "better hurry and get yours now while there's still time."

The hook to get people in and get them interested: I'm raffling a custom pet portrait - tickets are $10 each, and the proceeds all go to my local animal shelter. Consequently, the local paper will also run a feature story on the event (in addition to my paid ads.)

Ironically, the parents are desperate to buy the painting now, but they'll have to wait. I've been invited to exhibit it in a local show in May.

So, I have the ballerina, and I have THIS ONE that I will borrow from the owner to display. The question is - what sort of portrait should I paint as a demo in the gallery?

A teenage boy? A grown woman? A girl in a graduation gown? Anyone have any suggestions?

Alexandra Tyng · 03-03-2006, 09:35 AM

Cindy, what about a boy? He could be a teenager or a little boy. You already have two girls, so someone is predictably going to ask whether you paint males also!

The main thing is figuring out who you are targeting and what kind of portraits they are most likely to commission. My intuition tells me you shouldn't try to hit too many markets at once. If you paint a man, it shows your versatility, but most (?) portraits of men seem to be job-related. So you would be hitting another market. Not that you can't do it, but people like to focus on one thing at once and you are trying to put ideas in their heads.

Alexandra Tyng · 02-25-2006, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linda Brandon

This painting has great charm without being cloying or too-precious.

My thoughts exactly! She's just sitting naturally, a regular little girl with the charm of her individual personality in her expression. There's no feeling of "little girl in ballerina outfit" cliche. I love the way you have used blue in the shadows and repeated the pink and blue. Impressive and totally engaging!