Colette

Alexandra Tyng · 03-13-2006, 11:45 AM

Here's Colette, 36" x 30," oil on linen.

Tom Edgerton · 03-13-2006, 01:42 PM

Sometimes my glazes will assert differently in digital copies...

This is very fine. I like the compositional synergy between her arms and hands and the back of the couch. Great expression too.

Best regards--T

Marina Dieul · 03-13-2006, 02:01 PM

Alex,
it's a beautiful painting, this blue is so dark and luminous at the same time.
I love the way you handle the high lights in the hair. And the composition works so well ( a good lesson for me)

Alexandra Tyng · 03-13-2006, 06:17 PM

Thank you, Tom and Marina!

I had the composition in mind for a while before I found the right person. The dip in the sofa, I thought, would be a great place for a head, and the curlicue on the left side of the sofa made a good ending, like punctuation. Then I realized her stretched-out arms and bunch of folded fingers worked so well with the sofa lines. I wanted her face to glow and emerge from the darkness. These things all came together finally, and Colette was a great model.

David Draime · 03-13-2006, 06:39 PM

Beautiful painting. Her expression is great....and those folded hands are marvellous!!

David

Sharon Knettell · 03-13-2006, 08:10 PM

Alexandra,

She has real presence and life. The freckles are great and give her a real kid-like reality. She just looks like she is ready to leap off the couch and climb a tree.

Her skin-tones are lovely , the composition and design, refreshing.

Linda Brandon · 03-14-2006, 07:27 PM

I like this one very much, Alex, and I especially like the nice touches such as the halation off the western shoulder. I love the pose, too. Can we please see a closeup of those hands?

Julie Deane · 03-14-2006, 07:55 PM

Alex, it's lovely. I'm struggling with doing better compositions, and felt a lot better after reading your take on your own, because it almost precisely echoed my own thoughts after viewing it. One other thought - I love the heart-like feel of those dips in the sofa, which go well with this beautiful Valentine of a painting.

Alexandra Tyng · 03-14-2006, 09:06 PM

Sharon: Thank you--coming from you, the master of composition and color, that is truly a compliment. I've wanted to paint Colette's face since she was about two or three, so I finally decided now was the time before she lost that look.

Linda, thanks, but I can't top your magnificent head and I'm not going to try. As soon as I get a moment in the next day or two I'll try to get a good shot of the hands, I promise!

Julie, that's a lovely thought about the heart shape of the sofa back. Thank you for mentioning it, and for your thoughts on the composition, which I have to admit fascinated me and occupied my thoughts long before I started this painting. In fact I was so into the idea, I was afraid it wouldn't work!

Molly Sherrick Phifer · 03-19-2006, 09:39 AM

This is just scrumptious. What an adorable little girl and a wonderful mood to this. I love it!