"Elaine" Critique

[Mark Lovett]

Hi,

As I said in my introduction, this is a poor digital photo of a 30 x 24" oil on canvas, painted from a tiny photograph. The hand on the lap is giving me particular trouble because hands are very challenging and it is in an awkward position in the photograph.

I am looking forward to painting from better source material, preferably a live model in the near future. My wife and daughter can't do it because they can't sit still for more than five minutes. We have a local three-hour model session in my area, but the model changes poses every 10 minutes, so right now I may be forced to use photographs for a while longer.

Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

[Michele Rushworth]

Lovely provocative pose! Reminds me of Sargent's Lady Agnew.

It sounds like at this point that you'd probably be best served by learning how to take some top notch reference photos to work from (in between the live sessions that you can schedule). There are many great suggestions posted in the Photo Critiques section of this forum.

Here are some quick tips:
1. Take your own photos. Don't paint from client photos or existing snapshots.
2. Don't use flash.
3. Use a single source of light. Posing a subject beside a window works great.
4. Shoot lots of photos of each pose, with many closeups of hands and faces.
5. Make enlargements as big as you can get them. I blow details up to the size they will be in the painting.

Having great photos to work from will make all the difference in the world in the quality of your work!

[Scott Bartner]

Dear Mark:

Welcome to the Forum. (I grew up in Bethesda by the way.)

I see all sorts of late 19th-early 20th century influences in your work, namely Matisse, Cezanne, Kissling, Pascin, Duffy, Valadon perhaps. If you are going to paint this way, you should stay consistent throughout. I have the feeling the face becomes a little tighter relative to the way you handle the clothing, chair and background. This is one of the dangers of working from second-hand photos, magazine images and the like.

A few remarks about composition. Try not to centralize objects too much. Watch where edges leave the picture plane. There appears to be just as much space on either side of the chair. More interest/tension can be gained by moving things a little off center. These French chairs are great ways to create interesting negative spaces. Don

[Mark Lovett]

Hi Michele,

Thanks so much for your suggestions. I will certainly take your advice.

Best,
Mark

[Mark Lovett]

Hi Scott,

How did you end up going from Bethesda to the Netherlands?

Face becomes tighter relative to the clothing

I'm not sure exactly what you mean?

Your design comments I do understand.

The shadow that doesn't make much sense was in the photo, so I will have to check it out to see what the problem is with it.

The hand on the lap is real tough for me. As I mentioned previously, the photo of it doesn't even work, so I'm not quite sure what I'll do with it yet. I guess I'll keep working on it until I get it right, or bury it under a pillow or something.

I knew the frontal pose would be a challenge but I wanted to try it.

I hope to post the painting again in the near future after I work on it a little more.

Thanks so much for all your suggestions and encouragement. I really appreciate it.

Best,
Mark

[Michele Rushworth]

Here are a couple of suggestions for you:

You wrote that the shadow that doesn't make sense was in the photo. That's probably not enough of a reason to put it in the painting, if it's not contributing to your design in some way.

Regarding the hand: you may want to have someone else pose as a "hand model" and shoot some better reference photos. Be sure the pose, lighting and camera viewpoint are the same if you do.

Good luck!

[Mark Lovett]

Hi Michele,

Thanks for your interesting suggestions.

Mark

[Scott Bartner]

Dear Mark:

How I ended up here is mentioned in my web site bio, but you probably know the three word French expression that men often use to conveniently explain their sad state of affairs.

Speaking of French, I've attached a painting by the artist Jules Pascin to illustrate what I mean by consistency through out a painting. My impression of your portrait was that the head of the woman was painted more realistically relative to the the rest of the painting. Degas often did this, painting faces and hands with great precision and then letting the paint fly where the rest of the painting was concerned. The Pascin below shows a very loosely painted picture with a consistent handling of paint also with the head of the woman. To do this you really have to squint at your subject. Pascin was a real squinter. Ever read "A Moveable Feast"?

[Mark Lovett]

Scott,

Thanks for posting the picture to illustrate your point. Now I understand.

Not only do we share Bethesda in common, but I also have a financial background, and I too find it boring and would prefer to paint full time someday. So hopefully I'm only a couple of years right behind you.

I browsed your web site and enjoyed your beautiful portraits. It's great that you explain your technique with photos as the paintings progress. When using this very interesting glazing technique, it seems the artist must really nail the drawing from the start, and you do.

Mark

[Scott Bartner]

Well Mark, I can certainly identify with your situation and know from experience that it