Photo of Grace

[Jennifer Geary]

Hi everyone! I wanted your opinion, please, on this attached photo. I plan on doing this in oil, and want to know if you think the pose is suitable. Please let me know! Thanks for your time!

Jennifer

I think the pose is fine, especially for a child's
portrait. Looks very much like he/she is having fun, and I think that is what you would
want.

Devin

[John Zeissig]

Hello Jennifer,

I'm a new member to this Forum, and I've never even attempted a portrait of a child, but I think you've got a great subject here. The pose is excellent and the child is full of character that comes through in the photo. How much of the child/chair ensemble you want to include and how to position the subject within the canvas are always a consideration, but I can see a number of possibilities here, all of which would work. The fact that it's a B/W photo may even be an advantage. Go for it!

[Steven Sweeney]

It looks to me like a very workable pose, slightly off-center with movement back into the open space and out toward the viewer. You'll have to do the right things in terms of foreshortening the child's right forearm and left upper leg. I assume you'll be working in color (I'm somewhat curious as to why the photo isn't in color), so if you use the outdoor setting, you'll want to make sure that the grass doesn't wind up a "too pretty" green that competes with the subject. It's essentially background.

Looks like fun.

Cheers

[Jennifer Geary]

This photo was taken by Grace's father, who is an excellent photographer. The original photo is somewhat sepia toned. His choice. I think I may attempt doing this in color, but it will be a challenge for me, I think. Especially the background. I may just do a muddy green background, something muted. What do you think? Also, when you talk about foreshortening, what do you mean by that? (I didn't have my coffee today, so I am a bit thick in the head!) BTW, nice to see you back on the Forum, Steven, we missed you!

[Steven Sweeney]

Thanks, Jennifer . . .

I just lost my first reply here, let's see if I can get this one posted without blasting it off into cyberspace with no guidance system.

I assumed too much by getting into color. If the folks are keen on the sepia look, I guess it's worth a try, probably no harder in most respects than having to invent color. I like to shoot photos in sepia but I've never attempted to get that effect in oils. You'll have to be very attentive to subtle nuances in value within the monochromatic presentation, in order to create the illusion of form.

"Foreshortening" is an effect of perspective. If someone holds his arm out to the side, we see it at its full length, say 35 inches. If he brings the arm forward to point at you, the length that you "see" might be only a few inches, but you have to draw or paint that foreshortened arm in a convincing way so as to create the visual impression of depth, to show that it is in fact a full-length arm extended toward you. Otherwise it can look like just a stubby limb. There are various ways to depict this effect. One way is to be sure you have accurately rendered the negative space around the foreshortened subject. However you proceed, you have to forget that you "know" that, say, the arm is 35 inches long. Draw what you "see".

I'm probably overstating the potential for trouble here. If the gesture is captured well and the perspective in the chair handled accurately, foreshortening in the limbs may not be difficult to manage.

[Chris Saper]

It's impossible to resist posting a couple of my all time favorite painters' examples of foreshortening: Michelangelo here: http://sun.science.wayne.edu/~mcogan...els/plants.jpg (foreshortening the right hand of God); and the following John W Waterhouse masterpiece, "The Martyrdom of St. Eulalia".

[Chris Saper]

Waterhouse..

[Jennifer Geary]

AHA! Of course, now I remember what that is! lol...sorry for being so clueless about that. I will do my best in portraying Grace's figure as accurately as I can! This is going to be a learning experience, I can tell! Thanks, Steven, for your insight into foreshortening! And Chris, your examples are perfect! I LOVE Waterhouse! Now that I have a better grasp as to what I am getting myself into, I better be able to deliver a great piece! Thanks, you guys!

Jen

[Sharon Knettell]

Cute photo, would look good in a red chair on green grass and some red trim on his outfit. The foreshortening is not too distracting, little kids always look shriveled! Check out a similar composition I used for a child that age on my site here. http://www.portraitartist.com/knettell/garden2.htm