First Post - 2 Portraits
 

Hi All,
This is my first post. I

Garth and Garth
 

Hey Garth,

Welcome to the Forum, and Happy New Year!

You are the first "Garth" I've encountered in a very, very long time. The last other Garth I actually communicated with was back around 32 years ago in junior high (yes, there actually were two Garth's in the same school, and during third grade, the same class)! Gosh, I hope things don't start getting confusing around here. Now I guess I will have to call myself Garth H. I don't know about your experience with the name, but for me, if someone called "Garth" from accross a crowded room (or Forum), I could be pretty sure they were addressing only me. But alas, no more! Such a common name we share, Garth!

These two portraits of yours are original, and rich in complex detail painted with sensitivity. It's facinating to me to see your approach to portraiture from photographic resources, because I am working from similar ones. At first glance, I did not realize these, and your other painting of your grandfather were not the photographs, but paintings, with their faithful rendering. I would be interested in knowing your thoughts about the challenges of using photographs as primary painting resources, but I suppose it would be better to discuss that at length within another section of the Forum.

It's nice to have you here sharing your paintings, and I will look forward to seeing more of your works represented.

Sincerely,

(the other) Garth

You've just named yourself! :D (t.o.)Garth

Garth, these are very good. I'm glad to see you're not wedded to using flash photography.

You've posted in the unveilings section, which is not for critiques, but since you asked...

Maria is a dynamic composition, and lovely use of color. Very nice.

Isaac is adorable. The one thing that stands out to me, however, is the edge treatment seems to be pretty much the same throughout the painting. You could improve this one by varying the edges more, and in particular, softening a lot of the hard edges.

I was going to critique as well, but then I noticed this was the no-critique unveilings section. I think Cindy's above assessment is good.

Garth (Herrick)

Thank you both for your observations and comments. I noticed this was in the non-critique area after the post (rookie mistake). I

Hi Garth-- Before you mentioned that the baby was lying on a bed I had the sense he was floating in air (interpreted the background as sky)... I think there's a movie(?) that starts with a baby being tossed into the air and caught again in slow motion, had that kind of a feel to it to me.

These are nicely done and unique. Welcome!

Thanks for your comments and thanks for making me feel welcome.
After reading your replies, I guess I should post the digitals and expose my crooked eye. :)

Garth2
(Jerome)

Dear Garth,

These are stunning photos by the way! Not bad ones to work from, except the white-out on Maria's forehead. It's interesting to compare passages of foliage details, fabric patterns etc. as you have skillfully interpreted them. They actually aren't exactly lifted from the photos, like one might think, but are your artistic interpretation.

Thanks for sharing the original photos, ...a rare treat in unveilings. You are braver than the other Garth!

(the other) Garth