Pandora's Box

[Richard Jones]

Pandora's Box
Nupastel on museum board

This figurative painting is my take on the old, familiar story. I tried showing the moment before she opens the box and lets out all the evil, nasty things into the world. This was done from life, with the exception of the dress and box, which were drawn from a photograph. I included some closeups of the hands and face.

I'd really appreciate your comments, critiques, complaints, etc. Thanks for looking.

[Steven Sweeney]

Richard,

I realize that these images were posted some time ago, but I come and go and miss some things, including this one.

This seems to me quite accomplished, with a gesture in the figure that absolutely describes her trepidation and at the same time the seductive effect that the box is having upon her. The 3/4-profile, downward cast of the head is handled very well, her interesting facial features, especially that full lower lip, nicely depicted in perspective. That is not easy to do, nor is the subtle but complex foreshortening challenge posed by her slouching and turning, her head leaned toward us, so that we cannot see her neck. I find your capturing of that gesture quite masterful.

There are perhaps a couple of shadows that are confusing. At the bottom of her chin, I

[Richard Jones]

Steven,

thank you for the helpful comments. I really appreciate the fact that you responded, even though you had to search for this one. Maybe I made a mistake in posting it to the wrong forum.

[Steven Sweeney]

Not the wrong forum, I don't think -- just a critique area that was a rather late addition to the forum, and it unfortunately kind of gets placed in the line-up below critiques of more traditional "portrait" work, so that the section gets relatively less attention.

I say "unfortunately," because anyone who is going to paint more of the portrait subject than a head and shoulders is necessarily going to be getting into some of the gesture of the figure, which in turn will play a very large role in the overall mood and composition.

However, the fact is that many folks skipped the figure drawing training and practice, and went straight to shooting reference photos without fully appreciating the power of the figure or, more often, accepted a client's profferred school or studio photos or snapshots, and set out to copy whatever figurative design was already there.

This fact of the business means that relatively few practitioners have figure drawings and paintings of their own to show for critique, and -- having never done them -- they may not really know how to comment by way of critique.

Also, we sometimes do view a new post, but for whatever reason do not comment at the time, and then of course the next time we sign on, it's no longer highlighted as "new" and brought back to our attention, and with the passage of even a short time and the posting of additional images throughout the critiques area, some posts get orphaned.

If you (or anyone reading this) feel this has happened and you'd really like some feedback, a nifty "trick" is to post your own reply and ask a specific question, such as "Does anyone feel that the drapery [or the hair or the ears] needs a greater value range to create the form?" I've rarely seen such a follow-up question linger without response.

These things are affected, too, just by the time of year. Holidays get slow. Right now everyone's looking at the end of the school year, the upcoming June weddings, and so on. Be persistent -- it will be essential "out there" in the art business, so practice here.

[Dan Landrie]

Steven gives a thorough critique, the only thing I would add is that I would have put the composition lower on the page, leaving more room at the top and bringing everything of interest more toward the center horizontally. It's a beautiful drawing thanks for posting it, along with Steve"s critique I've learned allot from this one.