Great-Grandpa's Trombone

[Cynthia Leininger]

Terri,
This is beautiful, I love his expression. I have been thinking about composition and it amazes me that your painting works so well. There are a lot of seemingly conflicting lines, the window, the willow branches and then his instrument. I think it must be the values that make it work. Well, it is beautiful. Very real and warm.

[Terri Ficenec]

Thanks Cynthia - so glad you think it works!

Thought the composition was a little risky starting out (those horizontals potentially leading off the right end of the canvas...) but hoped to counter that by keeping the strongest contrast/highest values at his face and hands, and pushing the values down, in the background. If I could have gotten away with making him left-handed instead of right, I'd have preferred the mirror composition so that the horizontals led into the painting rather than out!

Thanks again!

[Jimmie Arroyo]

Jebus, this is good! The way you held attention to the boy with the lighting, compared to such a large instrument is, is, is........ sorry, I was trying to find an appropriate word for REALLY, REALLY GOOD.

[Terri Ficenec]

Thanks Jimmie -- you made my day!

[Jean Kelly]

So soft, Terri you've done it again.

Jean

[David Draime]

Terri

I know that when I see you've posted something I'm in for a real treat. This is superbly done - in all its aspects - as others have already mentioned. When it comes to your handling of color, I just love your restraint. Your paintings inspire me.

[Garth Herrick]

Originally Posted by Terri Ficenec

Thanks Cynthia - so glad you think it works!

Thought the composition was a little risky starting out (those horizontals potentially leading off the right end of the canvas...) but hoped to counter that by keeping the strongest contrast/highest values at his face and hands, and pushing the values down, in the background. If I could have gotten away with making him left-handed instead of right, I'd have preferred the mirror composition so that the horizontals led into the painting rather than out!

Thanks again!

Terri,

It's interesting how horizontal direction is important to the way we see things. Evidently we all read paintings from left to right, compositionally. I'm not making that up! Rudolf Arnheim has postulated this in his book "Art and Visual Perception". I still prefer the original orientation, personally. But it should bode well for this painting when it is loved both backwards and forwards.

Garth

[Terri Ficenec]

Thanks Jean!

David I'm floored you should say that --thanks so much! I so look forward to when you post your work and the subtlety and mood that you are able to convey.

Thanks Garth -- somehow I thought that left to right thing was tied to the direction that we read text... so that people from other cultures that read text right to left or top to bottom would also read art with that learned directionality?? Does Arnheim's postulate agree with that -- or is he saying that regardless of reading patterns all people read paintings left to right?