William

Peggy Baumgaertner · 07-25-2003, 06:15 PM

I've been off the boards for a while, teaching workshops across the country and here in La Crosse, and I'm off to London and Russia in a week, but I just finished this little oil (26" x 34") and thought I'd post it. The work is in oil.

Peggy Baumgaertner · 07-25-2003, 06:15 PM

Detail of his head.....

Karin Wells · 07-25-2003, 10:40 PM

What a wonderful portrait! I most especially like the colors and mood. I'd say that this is a winner. Congratulations Peggy.

Scott Bartner · 07-26-2003, 06:59 AM

This is a remarkably beautiful portrait. Camille Corot occasionally painted portraits of children, mostly for close friends. Your portrait has the fragile, timeless beauty and grace of those portraits.

S. Bartner

Enzie Shahmiri · 07-26-2003, 12:03 PM

Peggy, it is beautiful and captures a certain innocence.

I like to add it in my next newsletter to SoCal-ASOPA if that

Renee Price · 08-04-2003, 10:09 AM

Peggy, this is a beautiful portrait! Very sensitive and delicate. Children are hard to paint, and you've done a wonderful job.

Renee Price

Mike McCarty · 08-04-2003, 12:28 PM

Peggy,

The study for me here is in the background. The placement, the tone and the ever so slight suggestion. Not that the boy isn't wonderful!

Cynthia Daniel · 08-05-2003, 02:55 AM

Very nice, Peggy!

Tell me, it reads overall a bit red on my monitor. Is this color adjustment more true to the original?

Dan Saunders · 08-05-2003, 12:01 PM

Hi Cynthia,

It looked a bit red on my monitor also. I like the adjustment. This is a beautiful portrait Peggy.

Dan

Peggy Baumgaertner · 08-05-2003, 02:07 PM

Thanks for the input. My computer screen is a little wonkie, so I've tried to adjust it for this screen. The image is also off a digital camera, and I have a greater problem seeing color differentiations in the digital than I do on a print.

Thank you all for your kind words. I haven't posted any portraits for quite a while, and it's so very nice to hear your support!

Mike, The background is actually the defining element of the portrait. Before I settled on a background, when I had just William and the chair, it was a very nice child's portrait, but didn't get what I wanted to emphasize. I wanted there to be a sense of scale, the relative smallness of the boy. I also wanted to repeat the "round" theme. Putting an oval frame in the background didn't work, (no "scale"), and linear forms also didn't work. So I came up with the idea of an oversized floor globe. I found an antique globe pencil sharpener, 2x2 inches, and painted that MUCH bigger into the background. Once I had the repeating circles, (Williams head, face, hair, chair, etc., and globe, base and holder, then I was able to play off the vertical shapes, stripped wallpaper and screen.)

I will attempt to scan in slides that I have, the clarity and color might be better than that posted. Thanks again, Cynthia, for looking out for me!

And hello Scott! I don't think I've had a "conversation" with you! Thanks for the comparison to Camille Corot. It is very much appreciated!