Reflections

Molly Sherrick Phifer · 05-19-2006, 06:41 PM

I think this is my first "unveiling" in this forum, although I have posted in other areas. The painting is of my sixteen year old daughter started from a reference photo and finished from life. The photo was taken on a trip to Longwood Gardens, near where we live. We were standing on a covered bridge with sunlit water on both sides. The light reflected up, striking from both right and left, creating an unusual light condition for outdoors.

It was quite a struggle to get the skin tones and values right, but persistence paid off and now I am happy with it.

Cheers!

Alexandra Tyng · 05-20-2006, 08:41 PM

Molly!

Thanks for the preview, by the way. You are not kidding when you say you have learned a lot from taking Marvin's class. And you really have preserved your sense of color and style. Not that I didn't expect it of you; you are far too strong-minded (I mean that as a compliment) to get sidetracked artistically.

The way you've handled the colors and value transitions in the skin is superlative. This kind of lighting has got to be the hardest to paint. I love the skin. It looks totally natural, like you could reach into the painting and touch her. I keep admiring the mouth and eyes, too. There's just enough detail. I also like your composition and use of negative space.

Linda Brandon · 05-20-2006, 10:42 PM

Wow, Molly! What a lovely job with 1. challenging light conditions and 2. a challenging head angle as well. You've done a sensitive painting here, with a lovely introspective mood.

Molly Sherrick Phifer · 05-21-2006, 08:38 AM

Linda and Alex,

Thanks so much for the encouragement! This was a really fun piece for me to attempt, but I have to admit that months of working exclusively from life has spoiled me and I found it quite difficult to pull information from the photos. Thank goodness the subject lives under my roof! I never used to believe people when they would go on about working from life, but it is absolutely true. The only advantage I see with photos now, is that their pose does not alter much.

I can't imagine getting this far with my portraits without this forum or without the studies I have concentrated on.

Thanks again!

Richard Monro · 05-21-2006, 09:24 AM

Molly,
A beautiful model and a lovely painting. The skin tones in the face are spot on. What I really like about this painting is the focus. You have the eyes as the center of focus and soften and subjugate all other areas progressively from there. Well done!

Sharon Knettell · 05-21-2006, 12:00 PM

Molly,

This is absolutely your best. Your hard work and study shows.

Molly, I found out the same thing, unfortunately I do not have someone as lovely as your daughter under my roof. Every time I am tempted to buy something I think I need, I translate it into model hours.

Make her pay for her cell phone, prom gown, etc. with sittings!

A really beautiful painting.

Molly Sherrick Phifer · 05-21-2006, 07:44 PM

Thank you, Richard and Sharon,

Your kind comments mean a lot to me. I am lucky not only to have my lovely 16 year old daughter, but additionally, 15 and 11 year old daughters and 14 and 8 year old sons. All those kids at home can make it difficult to get anything done, but I do have a great source of models - all with different coloring, too.

Practically an entire portfolio!

Hard work and study pays off in more ways than I can enumerate. My enjoyment of the process of painting has skyrocketed.