Four Siblings
 

Oil on Linen, 48" x 64"

Now that I've finally declared this officially finished and had it photographed, I feel ready to unveil it here. This has been a challenge in many ways, but extremely enjoyable, too. The siblings are aged 8, 6, 4 and 2.

Alex,
it's such a joy to watch, because there is so much going on and you have kept it all balanced.

I don't know where to begin, or end, if I should tell you what I like about this charming childrens portrait, I love everything about it.

To mention just one; the bluish reflection on the screen behind the sofa takes the whole thing to a different level, Sargent comes to mind.

Bravo Alex :thumbsup:

Alex,

I have always admired the way that you create such a beautiful sense of pictorial space and volume around your figures. You somehow overcome the tendency of a photo to flatten things out. And I love the expression of the little girl on the right. It seems so genuine.

It is a beautiful portrait!

Great, great, great ... what else could I say?!

Thank you, Allan, Mary, and Bonfim!

Creating the space around these children was so much fun and quite a lot of work because of the size. You've probably noticed from previous postings that I enjoy working big, but I don't often get the chance to paint families. This one is going to be a gift for the grandparents. Here are a couple more closeups.

This is soooo beautiful.

Smart family who commissioned that!

Compelling work Alex!
I know what a challenge it must have been to have 4 children posing ! And then to obtain a nice composition : you succeded beautifully !
I love how you cut the space behind the scene with the vertical lines of the black screen, (always something to learn about the composition with you...)
And the children are very lively.
Beautiful !

Alex, what a beautiful painting! I love everything about it....

Did you take seperate photos and arrange the kids as you saw fit for the painting? I would love to hear how you went about creating such a large multi sibling composition.

Ditto!
 

I, too, would love to know how you went about the construction of this beautiful painting.

Oh Alex, this is just so beautiful.
I love the skintones. Actually there's not a single thing in this work that I don't love.
Sargent's girls come to mind immediately, for the light and its direction, but it is also the isolation of the sitters that refers to that portrait.
I also particulalrly like the tilt of the carpet that projects the subject toward us and puts us right into that room: when I look at it I can feel my feet on that floor.


I always enjoy portraits that are theatrical: the kids are sitting that way to present themselves to the artist, the gestures are all because of the artist: the little girl would show her toy, the boy is performing his puppet show, the eldest is at ease, looking, the other boy maybe just wants to leave.
This work has nothing to do with a casual snapshot, there is a real tension here, a compelling work.