Melanie

Mike McCarty · 05-31-2003, 10:39 AM

My friend Jo has a real passion for art. She has an art degree, which is to say she spends most of her time as a nurse. I prod her to take up projects and stay in touch with her art. She in turn prods and encourages me.

She came to me with a photo from a glamour magazine and said "I want to paint this." It was a very tightly cropped face very much back lit. It was one of those perfect shots that 10 people spent all day creating in a studio. After some discussion we decided it would be best if I helped her create her own reference.

She wanted hands, tightly cropped, and back lit. A mission, I love a mission. This shot was done with only natural light, a piece of foam core reflector board, and use of the spot meter on my Nikon film camera.

This is Melanie, with hands.

Mike McCarty · 05-31-2003, 10:44 AM

I couldn't resist another pose. I think this is a compelling image but I was disappointed that I lost most of the shadow in her face. I think that my reflector was a bit too close.

Notice the difference in Melanie's eyes. I've never seen such a variation. It was prominent in all the photos.

Mike McCarty · 05-31-2003, 11:03 AM

I also managed to get an outdoor shot, for my own continuing education.

Linda Nelson · 06-01-2003, 10:41 AM

HI Mike

What a great friend you are, and from what you describe, you seem to have hit the bullseye in re-creating her vision of the image.

My concern is that this is a technically great shot and as an image its already great, with no "wants". I just don't see how turning this image into a painting is going to make it better. In fact, I worry about such things like the pattern created by the sweater (which is just fine in the photo) may be distracting (once it's a painting) to the focus of the face and hands.

I don't mean to be negative, just caution that perhaps the thing to do is to really have a conscious strategy before starting the painting, so that she in control of what the whole point of and visual focus of the painting are supposed to be.

She's lucky to have such a helpful friend.

Linda

Michele Rushworth · 06-01-2003, 10:49 AM

Your photos continue to be an inspiration for me, Mike. The last one, beside the tree, gave me ideas that I will use with the next two photo shoots I have scheduled with clients.

And I love the first one, too. Very Madonna in her "Vogue" phase.

Mike McCarty · 06-01-2003, 11:37 AM

Linda,

You have read our mind, we in fact had that very discussion regarding the sweater. I have photographed this sweater many times, you will see it in a lot of my pic's. I have painted it several times, with varying degrees of success. As you point out, it looks good in a photo with all that texture and ribbing, but it becomes a challenge when you try and paint it. My approach has always been to ignore the detail and just do the shadows and shapes.

My approach with Jo is to try and not get in the way of her energy, and not to underestimate what she can do. At sixteen, she was the youngest ever admitted as a student into UCLA.

After our discussion she has decided on one of the simpler poses (posted next). This shot lacks the shadowing of the first, so she will use some of the reference from the face above. She wants to do this in watercolor! If possible I'll try and get a shot of her work.

Michele,

There's not much imagination in the outdoor pose but I was happy with the light on her face and hair. It almost shows to be side lit. She was under the shade of a tree, with the dark trunk blocking some of the reflected light from our left and a good bit of back lighting. I'm pretty sure I used the spot metering feature.

Can you believe the eyes?

Rochelle Brown · 06-09-2003, 09:40 PM

Really cute and clever poses!

I probably missed something but, is she going to paint from black and white photos? The light in the last one looks like it will be quite tricky, especially if she plans to translate the black and white into color.

Mike McCarty · 06-09-2003, 11:36 PM

Rochelle,

I often have two cameras working, one with b&w and one with color, shooting the same pose with each. That wasn't clear from the above discussion.

Chris Saper · 06-10-2003, 11:54 AM

Dear Mike,

I also love images with hands touching the face. One of the things I've learned though, is to not actually allow the fingers to depress the skin.

Nearly every pose like the image above can be just as successful with the fingers grazing the cheek without denting the skin. Just a thought

Mike McCarty · 06-10-2003, 04:06 PM

Chris,

That's a good point that I've never considered.

Do you have any thoughts on how you would treat eyes which have a considerable variance in shape? I have painted eyes that had noticable variations but none to the extent that is shown above. I would be inclined to match the one that I perceived to be the most flattering (our left), but this is not without risks.