The Honorable William Nelson
 

I'm new here and I'll try this again. I posted a portrait earlier and was having trouble with the image, so uploaded a dog portrait of the same dog that was in the other portrait, to see if the image was the problem. I did not realize that animal portraits weren't allowed (sorry) and that thread had to be deleted. I was considering posting this painting of Judge Nelson, that I was commissioned to paint after his death, when I saw Garth's portrait of another Judge that he posted today. Of course, my painting is in no way comparable to Garth's, but I did feel encouraged to go ahead and post it after seeing his painting.

This painting is 20"x16", Alkyd on stretched canvas.

Hi Linda,

Gosh, you are so kind with your compliments. Congratulations on your commissioned portrait of the late Judge William Nelson. I am glad you felt encouraged to post this. You have excellent draftsmanship in this portrait. I hope you get a chance to share a close-up, and more about your approach (although there is no requirement of that). While I don't know much about your alkyd paints, my technique was effectively alkyd in nature too, as I utilsed some WN Liquin as the medium. Most of the time I don't use this, but in my latest Judge, I did.

Were you commissioned by a Courthouse, or a family member; and had you actually known this Judge as a friend or in life? I feel at a disadvantage at an unveiling of a posthumous portrait, because invariably I am the only person out of everyone else present who did not know the subject in life. Of course it helps when people say the portrait captures the subject and "looks like a picture"! I hope you got a good response with this portrait. Where will it be displayed?

Welcome to this Forum,

Garth

By the way, if you need help or guidance toward posting images, don't hesitate to ask. I think you may have a second image but it does not show up yet.

Welcome Linda!

What a nice way to start, hmm? This is a wonderful portrait. I especially love the way you treated the background with the ever-so-slight but very effective rectangle just behind the face. You have made it seem like the gentleman was painted from life. I look forward to seeing more of your work.

I don't know anything about alkyd paint other than it fast drying, right?

Garth, is only one image showing? I did post two, one showing the whole canvas and the other is a closer view of the head. I didn't take any other close ups while I had the portrait. Both show when I view this thread? This was commissioned by a very close friend of the Judge. I actually painted another less formal painting for them that they have in their office of their business. This piece hangs over their fireplace in their home. I did actually meet this man at a New Years Eve Party and he was a real character. The hardest thing about painting someone who has passed away is the tears you have to deal with when the painting is complete. Sometimes it is difficult to finish a painting when I know that I will make someone cry. The clients were very pleased with the portrait. They also had me paint a duplicate of the casual portrait for the Judges daughter because she liked their painting so much.

I also use Liquin for glazing with alkyds and with oils. I use some oils with the alkyds. I usually paint very thin and layer the paint to help achieve the translucence of skin. Actually, I have found that if you want to speed the drying time of oils, you can just use the alkyd white with oils and that really speeds up the drying, since the lighter the color, the slower it drys.

I am so excited to have found this sight and to be accepted as a member. I have seen so many fabulous works and read so much useful information. Thanks for your offer to help with posting images. I'm not sure I understand how it works yet.

Lisa, thanks for your kind comments. Yes, alkyds are fast drying oils and are mixable with oils. I am working on a few things now and hope to post again soon.

Linda,

I just surfed over using Safari as the browser (Mac) instead of Internet Explorer, and lo and behold your second image is there! My apologies. It must be my system!

Garth

I am using safari also on a mac. Wonder why it doesn't show up on Explorer? I can't log in on Explorer because I don't know my password! Have it remember me on Safari. Guess that's pretty lazy huh?

Linda,

I am looking at your close-up and your draftsmanship is amazing!

There seems to be so much more to your painting technique than your photos are revealing. I wonder if these two images are more compressed as JPEGS than needed?

If I may ask, what level of compression are you using (I am thinking in terms of Photoshop, with 12 being the best but way too big a file, 10 no different than the best but still too big a file, 7, or 8, quite acceptable, and below this number, less than desireable)? I have found lately that I sometimes end up with too big a file size at 7, or 8, but that if I compress it one more time, the file shrinks to a size that can be posted, with no apparent loss of image quality. Just a tip that seems to work for me.

Sorry for the off topic digression,

Garth

Linda,

I'm viewing in Netscape and don't see the second image. I went into your post and clicked on the name of the file and Netscape says it cannot be displayed because it contains errors. If you possibly renamed the file with a different file extension without actually resaving it, this could cause the problem. For example, if you have a tif file and just rename it as a jpg file, this won't work. You have to actually open the file and then do a "file save as." Anyone, sorry if you already know this.

In any event, you can probably fix the problem by creating a new file and going into your original post where you can delete the current one and reload.

I think it is compressed to a 3. After I save as, I click on the image to check the size (command I) as that is the only way I can figure out what the actual image size is. When I get it to the accepted size, I then upload the image and at that point, it usually ends up being about half the kbs allowed. I just can't figure that out?

Well take a chance and experiment with a larger size save, because this compression level at 3 is not acceptable for your purposes! You may find when you save at greater than 100KB, say at level 7, that once this image is uploaded it is really only 65KB for Forum purposes. I also don't understand why that is.

Please follow what I advised in the last post. Save your image (going back to the original and shrinking it again. Don't re-use your level 3 image over again!) to level 8, or if you dare, 9. With all the beard detail you may well end up with a file size larger than 100KB, but don't fret! "Save-As" this image one more time at the same level 9, and see what file size you get on the second save. The image will be sharp and true, and yet be a usable file size for this Forum. Try it!

Garth

Linda,

The file size isn't the reason it's not displaying. If it were too large, it would not upload and it is uploading because I can see it when I go into Edit on your post, but the browser is seeing it as corrupted for some reason.

But I definitely think you could use a clearer image, which is what following Garth's recommendations will do. If all else fails, send me the original image.

Linda,

I like you effective use of color which lifts this portrait above so many other weary pictures of this type.

Garth and Cynthia, I uploaded new images, do they look any better? Unfortunately, I think that I have deleted my best photos of these and some of my other images and will now have to ask the client if I can borrow the portrait to take more photos. Thanks so much for your help.

This is an amazing forum and I will try to get my act together so that I will not continue to waste the time of those kind enough to look at my work and also those who also take the time to comment. I am sure that I will eventually get this right.

Sharon, thanks for the compliment, I was looking through your portfolio and am truly awed. I feel so honored to be a part of this fine group.

Dear Linda,

I love this face! It's so rich in color and so completely alive. Many congratulations, and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Linda, this is gorgeous! I especially like how the greenish background is used to set off the reddish tones of his skin. Very much a "living" portrait!

Chris, thanks so much for the kind words! I enjoyed so much looking through your wonderful portfolio and hope some day to have such an impressive body of work.

Michelle, I am flattered that someone with a portfolio such as yours has taken the time to leave such a nice comment. in regard to my painting. You are all so kind and are making me feel so welcome here. Thank you.

A posthumous portrait is so difficult to do! I think you have done a good job, especially with your lively brushstrokes.

Alex

Thank you Alexandra. I do find them very difficult, but I tend to work harder on them because I understand how important they are to friends and family of the deceased.

Hi Linda,

You've done a wonderful job bringing this man to life. I really like your use of broken color and the vibrancy you've achieved with the cool/warm interplay in the flesh tones. Posthumous commissions are tough to manage well and you should be very proud of this one!

Oh Linda, thank you so much. I am so overwhelmed by all of the encouraging comments that I've received on this site. I am in awe of the talent here and so looking forward to learning from the exceptional artists that seem so willing to share their experience and knowledge.