Daddy's Girl
 

Just finished this little oil of a three year old being scooped up in her dad's arms.
'Daddy's Girl'
12"x16"

Oh Terri! I love this. Very touching, but not sappy. Dramatic as well - great composition. The shades in the mans face - wow. Just fabulous!

Dear Terri,

This is wonderful portrait, congratulations. Solid composition, lovely color harmony, so very engaging.

Terri, I just can't get over the incredible leaps and bounds you have made in your ability in the past year or two!

To what do you credit your vast transformation as an artist?

I l o v e this.

Terri!!! This is fabulous! :thumbsup:

And I just realized how SMALL this is, I am amazed.

I love this too!!

And please answer Michele's question. : )

Great job Terri, it's your best yet, until the next one.

Thank you all so much! I'm flattered and a little taken aback.

Thanks Michele, it's good to know I'm headed in the right direction! So many things all came together late last Spring and during the summer, I think:

First of all, this forum and all of the generous critiques... not just of my own work, but reading through, following along with, the critiques of other artists as well, and trying to generalize the concepts behind the suggestions, seeing the difference those suggestions made. Certain discussions had a lot of impact... in April, Garth Herrick's discussion of velaturas was a lightbulb moment; Everywhere, the emphasis on edge control... and understanding what this really meant by seeing it applied in critiques and finished works. Also, both you and Sharon Knettell really drove home the need to plan (color, composition, etc.) before even starting a painting rather than trying to fix bad (or no) planning once the painting is underway. Everyone insisting that I really should switch to oils... (what a difference from acrylics!!) Also, the inspiration of how much other artists here have also grown!

Attending Tim Tyler's workshop this summer, a real confidence booster. He asked at the beginning what we each wanted to 'get' out of it... my primary concerns at that time were a better understanding of composition/color issues, and being able to work with more confidence/speed.... before that it was taking me months to finish a painting. This 'Daddy's Girl' actual painting took 1 week start to finish. The gist of the feedback there being, (after the initial sketchin) 'paint each area as if that is that last time you'll touch it'.... believe it or not, I'd previously painted with the expectation that I'd be back to visit each area repeatedly before it was done. I still do go back in and rework areas -most often with scumbles, or velaturas...(thanks Garth), but every time am expecting, 'this is to finish it here'. I think the effect of the 'finish it now' approach is two-fold, the painting is not only done sooner, but it's stronger/more coherent (less tentative). As far as the color/compositional concerns, I can't get into all of that here, but obviously very important and tied in with the up-front planning. Having live feedback while painting really helped to tie in the importance of color subtleties to why a composition will work or not. So understanding these things a little better is a boost.

Third... discovering the ARC website and pouring over their on-line museum, especially Bouguereau (sp?) and other amazing painter's works, especially those where the skin looks so real and just trying to figure out why, and internalize that sense.... realizing how much is possible with paint and striving for that.

There's probably more, that's had an impact but that's what comes to mind right now.

Mary, the canvas is small, but they are cropped in so close that their heads are not all that little, her head is ~6" (I usually like to work with > 7"... but she was so little to begin with, it's really not that much smaller than life.)

Again, Thanks!!

Terri, I want to second everyone's comments. I always loved your work but this one is superb. The skin tones and color balance are wonderful. I'm going to copy your observations and think about them. Maybe I should bite the bullet and try a workshop, too. You seem to have gotten a tremendous amount out of Tim's.

How did the clients react?

Terri,

That child is such an adorable mischeivious little munchkin!

Beautiful job. The Copley keeps coming closer and closer.

Just beautyful! And a charming , modern composition.

Well done, Allan.

Absolutely wonderful!

I just went to your website. I'll tell you what someone told me - Time to raise your prices...

Thanks, Terri, for outlining what you felt contributed to your "great leap forward".

Obviously some strong level of individual determination and insight has helped you synthesize the various sources of information you mentioned, and then actually apply it in a cohesive and powerful way to your work.

Many artists have access to the same information but then they progress little, or not at all. Great work!

Terri, this is a wonderful, charming painting and I agree with what everyone else has said. You've got terrific control of your color and edgework and the setup and composition are very engaging. And thanks for sharing specifically the steps you took to accellerate your painting path. Really well done!

Leslie, thanks! The clients (little girl's grandparents) are out-of-state 'snow-birds' and currently without internet access, so they haven't seen it yet... (Mike, I think this will ultimately end up in your new neck of the woods down in the Sarasota area--but it may be a while before it gets there).

Sharon, you're right, she was adorable and sweet, an easy kid to be around and comfortable/natural in front of the camera. Thanks!

Allan, Cindy, Linda & Michele... thanks! It's so reassuring to get such positive feedback. This was smaller and darker overall than I'm used to working, so I was a bit apprehensive about whether it would meet the mark. Am feeling much better about it now! :sunnysmil

Michele, I should also add that somewhere you commented to someone (I don't remember what thread) about at some point as a painting nears completion needing to start looking for what worked in the painting rather than just dutifully following the reference (not sure how you worded it, but that was the gist...). This is something I've also taken to heart.

This is so precious. I went back to your older posts to see the improvements in your painting that you and Michele have discussed. You are an inspiration to those like me who are striving for your current level but feared it will take decades. Thanks for showing it can be done!

Andrea, thanks! how nice of you to say... but (yikes!) a little overwhelming! I'm just figuring things out myself and hoping to be able to keep making good decisions and that these last couple weren't just flukes!

Your drawings, by the way are beautiful (I especially like 'Take 2'). Good luck with the transition to paint, and have fun!

Terri

There is nothing left for me to say except my own personal first impression - WOW!

I love the handling of every element. I feel as if the girl is actually solid and in front of her father and her father is bending over his lovely girl. You have accomplished the real 3rd dimension. Your color is something to behold as well.

Thanks for sharing. I must get back to painting now.

John

You made my day :sunnysmil --Thanks John!

Update
 

This piece (and a little still-life) were accepted into a regional juried art show (multi-media/all sorts of styles...). To be fair, I suspect the 'region' in this case is generally the surrounding towns. . . but still it's a first for me to have paintings displayed in public. :cool: Fun!

Terri,

WOW! and Ditto on everyone's remarks about how engaging, three dimentional, beautiful this painting is. It is very moving, the energy between father and child is felt. And she is ADORABLE - you did a magnificent job on her. My very favorite of yours to date!!!!

YOU spur me on and give me hope that I can integrate all I've read and seen here on the forum too.

Now, I can't wait to get to my studio!!!

Congratulations on getting two pieces in the show. Enjoy the publicity - I look forward to hearing about the positive responses you will get from showing this beautiful little gem!

One technical question: the background reads very dark on my screen. Can you tell me how dark it actually is and what colors were used on the background?? Thanks.

Congratulations Terri - good for you! Make sure you tell us about the award you are sure to get.

Oh My!
 

Terri, I just found this. What a neat composition. Two is a tough number to compose with and you've done as good a job as I've seen. I'm blown away by the originality. It's warm and well painted too.

No Awards...
 

Thanks for the vote of confidence Kim... but no awards on this one! The jurying's done... nothing that was at all realistic won any of the awards. :bewildere That's all I'll say about it.

Pat thanks! The background is a deep burgundy (dark but not black and some areas are darker than others) ... think dark burgundy leather like a couch (which is what was behind them). If you look along the edges where the shirt meets the background you can get a read on the color. I don't remember exactly how I mixed it... but it's likely that it included Gamblin's 'Brown-Pink', Ultramarine blue, Venetian Red, possibly some permanent rose and maybe a touch of gold Ochre... but I'm guessing at these last couple... pretty sure there was no white :) !

Tim, so glad you like it--Thanks!

Hi Terri,

I'm glad this came up again, I missed commenting on it before. As many others have said, I love this!

Jean

Thanks Jean! :)

Sorry to hear this, Terri. Pearls before swine...

BOOOO :! to that jury!

Coming in late on this one still doesn't mean I can't say WOW! I love the little girl's expression. The value compression in the foreshortened daddy's face must have been tough, but you pulled it off without a hitch!

Since I am (relatively) new to this forum, I have't had the chance to follow your progress from work to work... so I went back and looked ;) - hope you don't mind my snooping! Well, I concur with all here re: the great leaps and bounds. The resources you cited for information and inspiration are all wonderful tools, and I, too have benefitted from them.

Looking forward to the next one!

Michele, Rob --Thanks! Thought the jury actually did a pretty good job of representing a wide variety of works in the overall exhibit. The show was open to all art/all media/all styles. (I think approx. 80 pieces were included.) When they posted who the jury would be, I tried to look up their work on the web to get a sense of their stylistic preferences (maybe wrongly, but assuming that they'd prefer works similar to their own). Was only able to find works of one jurist... it was fairly modernistic (I'm not versed enough in all the different styles to know if there's a specific name for the style. . .) So was just happy to be included in the show, for that little bit of visibility.

Rob, with regard to the value compression in the Dad's face, that was by design rather than in the reference. The original plan was a portrait of the little girl. Had gotten a little series of interactive shots when the father came in and scooped up the little girl. Started this painting of the Dad and daughter on a whim and at the last minute to have something portrait-like to enter in the show (with the family's permission). This piece wasn't intended for the family, originally, I'd planned to use it as a sample piece. That gave me a lot of freedom in painting it. I wanted the focus to be on the little girl so pushed back the lights on the dad's face and shirt where they were behind/left of her. It turned out the family liked this one so much it became the commission. (So I'll need to paint another sample piece.) Actually spent a lot of time on the girl's face, and finished the Dad's real quick, just at the end. You can see a WIP progression here (you'll need to scroll down for the WIP... )

Terri, You hit the mark with this one. I absolutely love the expressions. Well done.

Thanks Richard! :)

Terri,
I know it

Garth, Thanks so much! Here's where it counts, right? ;)

Take 2
 

The painting originally posted in this thread was damaged (don't ask ;C ) . . . so here's the same composition, repainted, still 12" x 16", on a New Traditions L600/Dibond panel this time. Repainting something like this was a little daunting as somehow I felt a need for the second to be better than the first. . . wasn't the intention, but wound up probably a little tighter overall in this version than the first.

I worked from the original reference materials and think the likeness on this version is better of the little girl, anyway. . . hopefully the painting overall is as successful?
Well, here's take 2:

Terri,
well done, you are a real pro.

Allan

Just gorgeous!

Allan and Michele, Thanks! :sunnysmil

Teri you have blown me away, your work is absolutely beautiful. You must be so proud of your achievement with this second time around. Amazing!!!. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Wonderful!
 

Terri - Your painting, "Daddy's Girl" really yanks my heartstrings and brings tears to my eyes. It is beautiful. It just blasts warmth. I love it. Thank you for posting it.
Carol Norton :thumbsup: