22 months

[Allan Rahbek]

Beautiful, Marina,
It's so full of nerve and classic quality's. The generous space around the little girl increases the intensity of the look, in some mysterious way she takes the energy from the room and concentrate it on us. The background color culminates in her eyes.
I also like your economic use of colors and strong value control and clearness......and every thing else that others have said.
And I would love to see some really close ups

[Tom Edgerton]

Just fantastic...a real reminder concept is everything!

[Marina Dieul]

Thomasin, Garth, Allan, Tom: thank you so much for your generous comments!
Here are some close ups. Is it close enough for you, Allan? I couldn't do better today, because there is not much light today...

[Cindy Procious]

This is absolutely wonderful. I love how she's even raising one eyebrow - very imperious gaze.

Can you tell us how you arrived at this composition? What were your thought process - and how many different poses did you try before you got to this one?

What were the circumstances surround her bent over posture? Was she responding to something someone said, or did you ask her to do that?

And, what's the significance of the book in the lower left?

[Marina Dieul]

Hi Cindy,
Oh! lot of questions, I'll try to answer...
It was her second photo session. For the first session, my second daughter, who is the same age, was posing too, so there was a lot of emulation, they both wanted to be THE star. I couldn't obtain a satisfying reference, but I had a better idea of her personnality and how she was reacting in front of a camera.
For this second photo session, I had more precise ideas, but I knew it was just propositions she would answer or not. I wanted her to be naked, to be seated on something like a step, and I wanted a white sheet ( all this to give an allegorical level)
Then I had different accessories, like this book ( my note book...) that she could read.
At the begining of the session, I regreted my daughter wasn't there, because this little girl didn't want to pose at all. So, we just waited, and after 1/2 hour, she decided to take off herself her clothes. ( The 2 years old children love to be naked, but they also love to decide themselves)
I had put a wood beam over a chest ( a normal 2 years old is absolutely unable to resist climbing on this)
When she sat where I wanted,she was in the position I had decided. I gave her the sheet and the book but she wasn't very interrested by the book. During all the process, I was speaking to her, and her mother too. If you need that a child of that age raise an arm, for exemple, don't ask him to do it, he will say "NO!", but if you ask " Where is the ceiling?" he will be happy to show you.
The reference photo was #70 (among 100). She was playing with the sheet, and I just came to arrange the folds in a nice way, telling her something like " Oh! Look! You're going to be beautiful like this !" I came back to my camera and she looked at me this way. ( Maybe thinking " Did she really say beautiful?")
Her eyebrow wasn't raised as much, I changed that to add intensity to her gaze.
I needed several weeks to "digest" my references, and to compose a picture. I kept the idea of the book because I needed something to cut the horizontal line of the chest.
Well, it's just a glimpse of my process... I also look a lot art books, analyzing babies compositions, postures, accessories then refine all what I learned to keep only what interrests me. I always have my note book, noting every beginning of idea. I sometimes use my camera as if it was a sketch book, giving form to intuitions...

[Christy Talbott]

This is really a beauty. I love everything about it! And what a special, unique pose.. a tender little child with a sort of 'take charge' body language going on. Awesome work!

edit: I posted, but only saw these close-ups after. How'd I do that?.. Anyway, wow! Thanks for posting them! I get to take a good long, close up look at the lovely details. That's a great question from Cindy.. incredibly interesting to learn how you work.

[Cindy Procious]

Thank you so much for the glimpse into your thought processes.

One more question if you'll indulge me... which art book{s} do you find most inspirational with regards to children's/babies portrait ideas?

Thanks!

[Marina Dieul]

Thank you, Christy !
I don't think we've already "met", so welcome to the Forum!

Oh la la! Cindy, what insatiable curiosity!
Well, I look a little of everything, mostly paintings from 16th to 18th centuries( lot of italian). I also have a little book from Tashen "angels" ( only paintings representing angels from different times) My mother offered it to me few years ago, and I didn't really care at this time, but finally it launched my series of cherub.
I have to say that I have a special way to operate in every day life : for exemple, if I read a cake recipe, before testing and tasting, I immediately think : hum, this looks good... But it would be better if I add this, and it would certainly be a good idea to replace this with that...
And I'm afraid I'm doing the same thing with paintings. Sometimes, I just want to recreate an old painting which I like a lot, but I change the subject, the composition, the colors...I also like series: one painting bringing another, because when I finish a successful painting, I immediately think: well, it wasn't bad, but if I change this and that maybe it could be even more interresting.So I begin another one...

[Michele Rushworth]

Merveilleux! What a wonderful painting.

I'd have to say this is one of the best portraits I've ever seen.

[Cindy Procious]

Originally Posted by Marina Dieul

Oh la la! Cindy, what insatiable curiosity!

Ha - well, I admit, it's not out of just curiosity. In July, I am traveling to get references for a portrait of a 4 year old girl, and I'd dearly love to come up with something unique. She will be my youngest sitter to date.