Ethan

Olena Babak · 01-13-2007, 07:18 PM

Hi all!
It's been a wile since my last post. Sorry for disappearing. I was very busy with the holydays. Also I just got a new job that will give me in the future more time to paint, though I have to study a lot in the meantime. Hopefully after all it will worth the effort.
Any way I was asked to do a portrait of a boy. And here are pictures from photo shoot. I would appreciate any comments and suggestions. I know that on the most photos the boy is laughing and running, but that how he is and believe me during almost 3 hours his mother and I wasn

Olena Babak · 01-13-2007, 07:20 PM

and couple more

Julie Deane · 01-13-2007, 11:39 PM

What a happy boy! I like photo no. 3 myself - nice pose, and you could get a foreground/background interaction with a little tweaking.

Mischa Milosevic · 01-14-2007, 09:18 AM

Ollena, these are nice shots of the boy and as photos go they represent a happy boy for sure. Getting a commission is important but as important and more so is creating a work of art.

This is what I suggest. Photo two with some pose adjusting. Being that your client is quite serious in having you do the portrait I am sure that letting her know that another session is important. It does not need to be on the beach it could be anywhere. You can then paint the beach scene with a better pose reference.

Pose two is good in many ways the composition, the balance between sky, sea and land and the pose of the boy is much natural and relaxed. Reposing him the same way you could just add and have him hold something in the right hand a bucket, a plastic shovel a baseball cap his favorite object for the beach what ever. The fut and toe twisting in the sand is part of who he is. The left arm is fine but I would have the thumb up and the fingers spaced differently maybe two forward and up two down slightly bent or something. I mite be asking for to much but this is what I would do.

One more thing, fore sure take your photos from a distance in order to avoid distortion but take some close shots of the same pose for the detail. Make comparative measurements of the boy in person width agains hight and how many heads tall.

Its all about creating a work of art and not about just a commission or copy of a photo. Action shots are fine but only for a photograph. Your client will understand for sure and will respect your professionalism.

All the best to you.

Gregg Claussen · 01-14-2007, 02:02 PM

Please don't hit me too hard....but,
Lot's of portraits have the 'sitter' involved in action. Portraits of sports players prove this point. There have even been portraits of rock climbers involved with their activities.
If we are talking business, the most important 'aspect' is customer satisfaction, meaning a happy client. No reason you can't have a happy client and a work of art.
Photo #3 seems ready made for a painting, including the background. The values are almost 'ready made'.. The cloud bank in the upper left corner might need a bit tweaking or changing to maybe distant fogged-in mountains? <--just what I would do, not what you should do. If you do use photo#3, then you might want to give a bit more room between the bottom of the figure and the bottom of the picture. At least that way, it won't be even on both the upper and lower parts of the photo, and give the shadow more 'room'.
Very nice reference photo's. What camera did ya use?

Cheers and Good luck!

Mike McCarty · 01-14-2007, 03:58 PM

If I had to pick from these I would choose #3.

The problems you will have to confront are these:

1- As with all outdoor photos taken in the direct sun you get a flattening of the values across the board. This really kills you when you are trying to create form in the facial features. One way to mitigate this is by working large.

2- If you paint this exact composition on a 36" tall canvas your head size will only be 5.25". This is getting toward the minimum, certainly not large. When you combine this small head with the problems of not having a lot of value shift in the features you are beginning to meet some real challenges.

3- I don't know what type of camera you were using, but if it is something like a 5mp point and shoot type, you will not see much detail at all in the eyes or in the hands when you enlarge this photo. Even with a really great SLR it would be hard to extract much detail.

If you place these challenges in the hands of a really experienced painter this could end up being a fine painting. For us mortals it could be a real head knocker. My advice would be to keep the entire image loose and suggestive rather than trying to work a fine line. The background could be a real asset to that end. Keep your strokes broad and don't be timid with the paint. This is not easy when you're trying to capture a likeness.

This would be my approach.

Olena Babak · 01-15-2007, 09:45 PM

Thank you for taking time to go over the photos. I think I

Marcus Lim · 01-15-2007, 11:00 PM

Hi Olena,
I second the room's poll that #3 photo is a wonderful choice. The angled posture, and the balance of the figure makes it a wonderful choice for a painting reference.

However, i think Mike's advice here is absolutely something to bear in mind for this project:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike McCarty

Keep your strokes broad and don't be timid with the paint.

What i'd like to add to Mike's words, is also to keep "movement brushstrokes" for certain areas of the painting, instead of having a smooth, finished look throughout the painting. This will definitely bring out the energy and mood of the painting, and that sense of satisfaction you'd be looking for.

Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco · 01-16-2007, 05:14 AM

Hi Olena, i just wanted to post this link
http://www.commissionaportrait.com/a...lio.asp?id=111
which I think you might find inspiring for this work
Ilaria

Terri Ficenec · 01-17-2007, 12:12 PM

Hi Olena--
I'm jumping in a little late here. . . jumping on the #3 bandwagon -- it's got just about everything going for it.

Looking ahead for potential problem areas, I'm thinking you'll want to be very careful handling that near hand where those bent fingers all end on almost a straight line -- if you've got other shots immediately before or after this one with slightly different hand positions. . . you might consider if there's a similar hand shot with 'better fingers'?

From how you describe the boy. . . these shots really reflect his energetic personality -- I bet this turns out beautifully!