Gymnast post for Jennifer Geary
 

Administrator's Note: Jennifer was having trouble posting and she said her request for help was urgent, so I've posted for her.

The photo was the only one the client had, and she wants THIS one painted. She wants an oil, about 24" x 30". The trouble I am having is what should I do with the background? Part of the balance beam in the bottom right side is conflicting with her foot. Should I just take her and put her in a totally different background? What do you think would work? I am seriously needing some advice, and I know that the members of the forum can steer me in the right direction.

Jennifer,

I'll offer this one tidbit. Usually you can find more information in a photo if you lighten it up with your photo software. This lightened version gives s little more info in the dark shadows. Is this a cropped image? I think I would give more air around and beneath the girl.

Jennifer --

You have here one of the most challenging reference sources I've seen, particularly with respect to the extreme foreshortening in both legs and one of the arms and hands. There's precious little information in or about the face. Eyes "closed" for all intents and purposes. Almost no visible hair. You've been presented with a very difficult project, and if you can pull it off convincingly, you'll be eligible for both talent and courage medals. How much better would be this same "pose" in profile. I realize that there's nothing you can do about that -- other than turning down the commission. It's not for me to tell you whether or not to do that.

Since the girl is apparently doing a floor exercise routine, you're right, the pommel horse in the background doesn't really "belong", save for the thematic suggestion of a gymnastics venue, but that's going to have to be apparent from the girl's appearance in the first instance or not at all. It seems to me that this is one of those depictions that cries out for a more abstract background. Any recognizable objects would have to be very skillfully pushed far back into the background, at risk otherwise of interfering with the representation of foreshortening in the limbs.

Whew. Good Luck!

For the background, I would suggest a very blurry, depth-of-field type of effect. It would help suggest action as well. As for the image you have, I have had similar commissions where things are just not going well for the image. I would suggest taking a large scale image of it into Photoshop or PaintShop Pro and play around with it. Crop just the girl or play with lighting and colors. That's the only thing that seems to help bad situations like this.

Hope I've helped. If not, please smile and nod like I've done good.

Foreshortening
 

Jennifer, unless you are about to lose your phone service, don't do it. It is an odd phenomenon that somehow things that read in a photo don't always translate to a painting.

One of the most important lessons in portraiture or any commissioned work is to learn when to stand up to a client.

I can't see how this will ever work.

One thing that you can do if you are desperate is sign it in an illegable cartouche of your initials. I have one of those hanging around. I hope nobody ever figures it out.

Cropping options
 

Hi Jennifer - I'm going to agree with the common theme of the responses to this reference. If you have any doubts, try some preliminary sketches and you will see very quickly how the legs, specifically, are going to distract the viewers eyes. A simple contour drawing will show you very quickly. Check out this thread opened by Marvin for more theorizing about the importance of preliminary studies. http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...?threadid=1491

If you must do it, I would recommend cropping out the problem areas as follows

However, the reference photo problems don't stop with the forshortened limbs. Look at the following simplified image, similar to what you would find in a value sketch, and you'll see you have very little form to deal with on the face.

This seems a little gaudy quoting myself,
Sharon's quote in this thread brought to mind the above similar discussion. Best of luck, Jennifer.

whew, indeed!
 

Thanks everyone for getting back to me so quickly! I agree with you 100% about the photo! However, it gets a little tricky, considering that this girl drowned 3 years ago and her mom is just coming to grips with being able to get a portrait done. She feels that this picture represents her daughter the most. Any thoughts on how I should handle this? Do I attempt to paint this as best as I can, giving her a discount if it doesn't turn out right? I am in the corner with this one. How would YOU handle this?

I played around with the image in Photoshop a bit. I cut the girl out of her old background and placed her on this new one...just a thought. I did a watercolor filter to see how this would look painted.

Thanks, everyone, for helping me with this!!!

Gymnast
 

Jennifer, talk about being between a rock and a hard place!

Ask yourself the following questions.

A. Is the mother a friend?
B. Who will see this painting, how will it affect future commissions?
C: Will it be a work you will be proud of?
D: Will it help this unfortunate mother with her grief, in other word a kindness?

Some tips. The Photoshop thingy does look like she is leaping into her mother's arms. I will be pilloried for this advice, but here goes! TRACE IT!! Have the photo blown up to the size you want it and maneuver a piece of tracing paper along it to elongate slightly the torso,limbs and neck. Most commercial artists use all kinds of drawing aids, camera lucidas, projectors etc.. They are useful for somthing like this, but they can stunt your drawing capabilities and style. Also they do not work well when you work large and use classical proportions. Good Luck!