22 months
 

Hi,
this is the grand daughter of a french general.
24" X 36", oil.

Dear Marina,

Stunning as usual! I like how her pose is confrontational and is asking for the viewers attention.

So engaging! Brava.

F. O. E.
 

F.O.E. says what this painting evokes in me: Fresh Out of the Ether! She looks as if SHE may have been a general before arriving here as a little girl. Maybe she hasn't forgotten yet. What a beautiful and commanding presence you have painted of her. Thanks so much for sharing this. I will remember this painting.

Marina, how absolutely lovely! congratulations.

Marina, you are incredible! This portrait and the girl in it, are quite shockingly real, powerful, beautiful, and demanding of attention. What amazes me is that you can express such power in your statement and render adorably soft, sweet forms so accurately. The juxtapposition only adds to the impact. This will stay in my head for a long time.

Marina!

Another unique way of presenting a child--and you have such a captivating way of doing it. Aside from the obvious technical mastery, the concept holds one

Enzie,Chris, Carol, Grethe, Alex, and Carlos : thank you very much !

I'm glad you find my concept interresting. There is so much to say about the babies and toddlers, they are fascinating persons, when you enter in their world. One thing I realised, is because they can't speak well yet, that they use body language much more than adults, and this is a good thing for a painting.
Having a baby is one of the most common experience in history of humanity, but when it's your turn to have a child, it's a complete miracle. What I'm trying to express in my babies portraits is those 2 facts :
- the allegorical side to express the belonging to humanity ( it could be any baby of any country and any era )
-and the unicity of this particular human, his nature, his own history, his feelings at this particular moment of his life...

That said, I had to laugh, Carlos, when I read about the little gaulish village : next time I will paint the bard behind! ( You know what ? I come from this part of the world so it's certainly a memory...)

This is wonderful, Marina. Really wonderful. I love the details such as the different expressions and positions of the hands (and fingers) and feet (and toes), and the way the flesh presses against flesh. I love the stockiness of her legs and the weight of her pose pressing down on them. I love the reflected light in the shadows, and the musicality and rhythm of the brushmarks in the figure and drapery. And, of course, her face and personality are mesmerising. And your background is splendid too - such good space expressed and so nice to see the brush marks. And, of course again, your colour is brilliant. So very well done!

Dear Marina,

Again, WOW! A General's grand-daughter indeed; she is so commanding in this dramatic masterwork! She is going to get more looks than anyone, in this portrait (and Forum). She means business with her admiring subject-viewers, as do you, Marina!. I love this! ...Everything about it. It is dynamic with this engaging toddler bursting upward compositionally through a sheet draping downward. That's just brilliant! Also placing her intensive gaze in the center, is powerful, by default (and design).

Bravo, and congratulations! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Garth

Beautiful, Marina,
It's so full of nerve and classic quality's. The generous space around the little girl increases the intensity of the look, in some mysterious way she takes the energy from the room and concentrate it on us. The background color culminates in her eyes.
I also like your economic use of colors and strong value control and clearness......and every thing else that others have said.
And I would love to see some really close ups

Just fantastic...a real reminder concept is everything!

Thomasin, Garth, Allan, Tom: thank you so much for your generous comments!
Here are some close ups. Is it close enough for you, Allan? I couldn't do better today, because there is not much light today...

This is absolutely wonderful. I love how she's even raising one eyebrow - very imperious gaze.

Can you tell us how you arrived at this composition? What were your thought process - and how many different poses did you try before you got to this one?

What were the circumstances surround her bent over posture? Was she responding to something someone said, or did you ask her to do that?

And, what's the significance of the book in the lower left?

Hi Cindy,
Oh! lot of questions, I'll try to answer...
It was her second photo session. For the first session, my second daughter, who is the same age, was posing too, so there was a lot of emulation, they both wanted to be THE star. I couldn't obtain a satisfying reference, but I had a better idea of her personnality and how she was reacting in front of a camera.
For this second photo session, I had more precise ideas, but I knew it was just propositions she would answer or not. I wanted her to be naked, to be seated on something like a step, and I wanted a white sheet ( all this to give an allegorical level)
Then I had different accessories, like this book ( my note book...) that she could read.
At the begining of the session, I regreted my daughter wasn't there, because this little girl didn't want to pose at all. So, we just waited, and after 1/2 hour, she decided to take off herself her clothes. ( The 2 years old children love to be naked, but they also love to decide themselves)
I had put a wood beam over a chest ( a normal 2 years old is absolutely unable to resist climbing on this)
When she sat where I wanted,she was in the position I had decided. I gave her the sheet and the book but she wasn't very interrested by the book. During all the process, I was speaking to her, and her mother too. If you need that a child of that age raise an arm, for exemple, don't ask him to do it, he will say "NO!", but if you ask " Where is the ceiling?" he will be happy to show you.
The reference photo was #70 (among 100). She was playing with the sheet, and I just came to arrange the folds in a nice way, telling her something like " Oh! Look! You're going to be beautiful like this !" I came back to my camera and she looked at me this way. ( Maybe thinking " Did she really say beautiful?")
Her eyebrow wasn't raised as much, I changed that to add intensity to her gaze.
I needed several weeks to "digest" my references, and to compose a picture. I kept the idea of the book because I needed something to cut the horizontal line of the chest.
Well, it's just a glimpse of my process... I also look a lot art books, analyzing babies compositions, postures, accessories then refine all what I learned to keep only what interrests me. I always have my note book, noting every beginning of idea. I sometimes use my camera as if it was a sketch book, giving form to intuitions...

This is really a beauty. I love everything about it! And what a special, unique pose.. a tender little child with a sort of 'take charge' body language going on. Awesome work! :)

edit: I posted, but only saw these close-ups after. How'd I do that?.. Anyway, wow! Thanks for posting them! I get to take a good long, close up look at the lovely details. That's a great question from Cindy.. incredibly interesting to learn how you work.

Thank you so much for the glimpse into your thought processes.

One more question if you'll indulge me... which art book{s} do you find most inspirational with regards to children's/babies portrait ideas?

Thanks!

Thank you, Christy !
I don't think we've already "met", so welcome to the Forum!

Oh la la! Cindy, what insatiable curiosity! :)
Well, I look a little of everything, mostly paintings from 16th to 18th centuries( lot of italian). I also have a little book from Tashen "angels" ( only paintings representing angels from different times) My mother offered it to me few years ago, and I didn't really care at this time, but finally it launched my series of cherub.
I have to say that I have a special way to operate in every day life : for exemple, if I read a cake recipe, before testing and tasting, I immediately think : hum, this looks good... But it would be better if I add this, and it would certainly be a good idea to replace this with that...
And I'm afraid I'm doing the same thing with paintings. Sometimes, I just want to recreate an old painting which I like a lot, but I change the subject, the composition, the colors...I also like series: one painting bringing another, because when I finish a successful painting, I immediately think: well, it wasn't bad, but if I change this and that maybe it could be even more interresting.So I begin another one...

Merveilleux! What a wonderful painting.

I'd have to say this is one of the best portraits I've ever seen.

Ha - well, I admit, it's not out of just curiosity. In July, I am traveling to get references for a portrait of a 4 year old girl, and I'd dearly love to come up with something unique. She will be my youngest sitter to date.

Merci beaucoup Michele!
I read in a magazine, when asked " what is success?", an artist answered : " The approval of fellow painters."
I feel very successful ! :D

Cindy,
if you want to develop a unique concept, it shouldn't be too difficult with a 4 years old, which can cooperate better than a baby. But you have to work before and to be very concentrated on what you want. A good idea would be to know few things about her before ( what she looks like, is she shy or not...) It will help you visualise what you can do.
Look at the PAINTINGS you like ( try to forget all the images and photos we are submeged everyday, you are a painter, not a photographer)
Good luck with this commission!

Well, Marina we all know you did`nt do it all with a magic wand ;) Hard work has brought you to success, good for you.

Thank you.