Two new portraits

[Christy Talbott]

They are really lovely IIaria! The one you had your difficulties with is the one that I'm more drawn to. I don't even know the girl, but I'd enjoy this painting on my own wall.

edit: Also the composition and color is different and striking!

This is my second edit! Only just realized you were looking for a critique, initially I thought these were finished. The only critique I can offer is-- I wonder if the hands on the girl in the second painting could be better articulated. And also the first image seems rather dark, but I'm thinking that must be the photograph. I'll look for your higher resolution images later.

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Christy, I rather post here than in the unveiling section, because I prefer to hear both negative and positive opinions.
More than a critique, it is a post mortem I am after, since the portraits were delivered today, something I can remember for future works.

High resolution images are here and here

[Peter Dransfield]

I also particularly like the pout. I also love the device of the hooks formed by the two apples in one and the feather in the other to return the viewer to the girls' heads. Lovely, direct and beautifully composed.

[Chris Saper]

Dear Ilaria,

Those hi-res images are just fabulous.Thanks for the link - your paintings have a luscious surface richness and such clean color.

The hi -res pics also show so much more information about the hands and other pictorial elements, and I very much love to see to the drawing and fresh sketch quality as the objects move away from the focal point.

It's a stretch to find any suggestions - the only thing I notice is that, in "The Letter" the vertical bar's placement and width above the girls shoulder create kind of a tangent with her upper right arm.

The colors and skin tones are gorgeous, and I also love the pout.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Brilliantly thought out and executed, Ilaria!

I love the compositions, the colors, the abstract shapes and grouping of elements, especially the fruit in the second painting. The two works are so individual it took me a while to realize that they "fit together," in a way--the curve of the table continues around from one to the other. Yet the backgrounds don't connect so it is not literal or contrived or symmetrical. I am guessing that they are the same size in reality.

The color is fresh and vibrant with your usual silvery, glowing sense of light.

My only criticism would be that the right arm of the older girl (the one holding the letter) does not quite make sense to me. It has to do with the way the arm is attached at the armpit and then turns out. The delineation of the armpit and the musculature of the upper arm bothers me.

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Christie, Chris, Alex, thank you for your thorough examination.
I can see each one of your points. (Alex yes the paintings are the same size).

In fact when I first saw the dresses I found them really lovely and I didn't think about how complicate it is to have bare arms in a portrait.
Both postures are slightly awkward, I prefer them to relaxed poses, but I put myself in further trouble ! Especially in the letter painting I wanted to have a very open stance, so her right shoulder is coming forward almost in an unnatural way.
I had a look at Sargent's arms, which are ever so graceful. I tried to make up for the lack of anatomical information ( very few sittings available) by putting down the most beautiful pinks and grays I could mix.
I am very aware that I need to go paint some arms at the open studio ( or choose clothes with sleeves)!

Alex, I should have taken a photo of the paintings together. What connects them for me is really the intensity of the colors: the orange in the fruit painting ( it is a yellow wall ) came about just after the blue of the envelope.

At the beginning I had set out to paint very pale pictures, both green pink harmonies and cool skin tones, but going on I felt the girls needed more life, more childhood hues. The manilla envelope turned blue, and the fruit appeared ( I had pale hydrangeas before ). The stronger colors are very similar in tone and chroma and each of them just called on the next one.

This is the first time that in commissioned work I made so many changes during the painting. I do that a lot in still life, moving objects around and adding or removing them, but until now I was more afraid of letting go of ideas I no longer thought were right in portraits.

[Linda Brandon]

laria, I'm so happy to see how beautifully these turned out - those colors are so clear. I would love to see how you work on site with your palette - one of these days, when you're working, could you take a photo of your palette?

I also enjoyed the hi-res photos. I love those wandering reddish lines and the drawn-in boundary line of the arm. There's a playfulness and a sketchy, linear quality that really fits in well with the youthful girls.

I have been painting some girls in sleeveless dress myself and I know what you mean about little girls arms - it's not as if there's much muscle to triangulate from,.

So lovely - I am really glad your clients let you have your own way with them.