President Judge

Karine Monaco · 04-14-2007, 07:41 AM

Hi Garth,

I generally don't give advice on the resource photos, so please forgive me if this post doesn't help you at all, or worst, if it makes things harder for you! This might indeed be my first and last attempt at helping fellow artists choosing their resource pictures

Here is my personal opinion,
What is sure is that I would not use the face on #4.
I love the third photograph, the reason being that we can see a "real" smile. Her eyes don't say the same thing at all than in #1 !

(in #1 she kind of seems a bit bored and artificial, with this slight hard-dark-sad feeling into her look... I don't know if I'm expressing clearly...)

I understand, however, the importance of the commentaries that have been written by everyone until now. And there is no doubt that #1 face looks more formal. As this is meant to be a formal portrait, I therefore guess #1 position is the best, for the compositional purpose too.

To conclude, I would perharps advise you to bear in mind her inner light by looking closely at the 3rd photograph even when painting from the 1st photograph. That can help you recreate and reflect that inner light beauty on her face (you could increase a little little bit the smile on her mouth, and add something to her eyes to represent her friendly attitude).

I cannot find my English dictionary... this is so frustrating not being able to express precisely what I think !

Hope this helps you a bit

Garth Herrick · 04-14-2007, 10:58 AM

Dear Marcus, and Karine,

I guess this boils down to personal and individual perceptions and preferences, and the reality that this varies from person to person; and it's part of the key of why life is so interesting by each of us expressing personal uniquenesses. You each have differing points of view, yet both are equally and mutually valid, to me.

1 (or 2), seems incrementally more formal and neutral in emotion, which may bode better for the formal, professonal courtroom exhibition venue. On the other hand, there seems to be a slightly greater quality of personal warmth, genuineness, compassion, and attentiveness to me in 3. Her pose is spontaneous and uncontrived, and to me , she is "listening". 3 by the way, was captured first, before 1.

The Judge herself, could go either way. She is concerned about looking more formal and professional, and feels she is perhaps somewhat relaxed in 3, or 4. She is leaning toward 1 or 2, but in general she is pleased overall by her appearance in each., as long as she is not perceived as "slouching". The image shared in 1 and 2 is less slouching, she feels. Upon second consideration she is now pleased with her hands in 1 or 2 as well. I am glad she is expressing she is comfortable with these images.

So what to do? I think I know her well enough to draw out the best qualities of several images into the painting, so that even if it is fundamentally composed out of 1, that it can contain subliminally certain "inner light" qualities of 3. What does everyone think?

Karine, by the way you write truly flawlessly in English! One would never guess you were lacking any dictionary or thesaurus. More power to you!

Not only has the Judge spoken, but you both have helped me. Thanks!

Garth

Karine Monaco · 04-14-2007, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garth Herrick

Dear Marcus, and Karine,

I guess this boils down to personal and individual perceptions and preferences, and the reality that this varies from person to person; and it's part of the key of why life is so interesting by each of us expressing personal uniquenesses. You each have differing points of view, yet both are equally and mutually valid, to me.

Dear Garth, I totally agree! That's why this forum is so interesting. By the way, I also think Marcus was right. Just thought I'd add my personal thoughts to it

Quote:

So what to do? I think I know her well enough to draw out the best qualities of several images into the painting, so that even if it is fundamentally composed out of 1, that it can contain subliminally certain "inner light" qualities of 3. What does everyone think?

No doubt you can do this. Your talent will help you make a very interesting portrait of the Judge. I can't wait to see it!!

Quote:

Karine, by the way you write truly flawlessly in English! One would never guess you were lacking any dictionary or thesaurus. More power to you!

Hihi, thanks! That's so nice of you.

If you were Japanese, I would say : Ganbatte! (which is a mix between "good luck", "you are going to have a lot of work but we are here for you", "keep up the good work" and "stay positive")...

Garth Herrick · 04-14-2007, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karine Monaco

If you were Japanese, I would say : Ganbatte! (which is a mix between "good luck", "you are going to have a lot of work but we are here for you", "keep up the good work" and "stay positive")...

Karine,

Now that's a useful word to learn and apply... Thanks, and I will remember that.

My youngest brother is a permanent resident in Japan, so I have a new word to use with him!

Garth

Karine Monaco · 04-15-2007, 06:17 AM

Really? That's funny, I might have seen him there without knowing he was your brother! Who knows? I have lived in Japan for 3 years, and I am going back there for a while in a few months actually.

Garth Herrick · 04-15-2007, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karine Monaco

Really? That's funny, I might have seen him there without knowing he was your brother! Who knows? I have lived in Japan for 3 years, and I am going back there for a while in a few months actually.

Hi Karine,

Dean Herrick is the Head Sculptor at Tokyo DisneyLand, where he essentially manages new themed construction. His wife, Yuumi Domoto is a reknowned abstract expressionist painter from a family of prominent artists . In fact, her father, Hisao Domoto was big in the Paris and New York art scenes throughout the 1950's. Yuumi's first language is French, being Parisian-born and having been baptized at Notre Dame.http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN

There, now I've gone off-topic again!

The world could become even smaller with a telephone connection, or two. Where are you based when in Japan, and what brings you there? Your years of experience in Japan is so interesting to learn about!

Garth

Karine Monaco · 05-01-2007, 07:52 AM

Dear Garth,

The world gets smaller indeed!
I will pm you about this, as it would be better not to go too off-topic I guess

I don't know anyone in Japan's art world, so I am very glad to hear about great artists living there!

How is your commission going?

Karine

Michele Rushworth · 04-14-2007, 11:03 AM

Which facial expression does she like? (Do you allow the subject input on this issue?)

At the rate you're going, Garth, there won't be any judges left in the country for anyone else to paint!

Garth Herrick · 04-14-2007, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michele Rushworth

Which facial expression does she like? (Do you allow the subject input on this issue?)

At the rate you're going, Garth, there won't be any judges left in the country for anyone else to paint!

Dear Michele,

Overall, she is leaning toward 1 (or 2).

You know as well as I, that there must be thousands of judges across the land. More than enough for each of our careers!

Garth

Allan Rahbek · 04-14-2007, 11:32 AM

Garth,
After looking at your refs several times I feel that the most pleasing one is the first one. The reasons are: her slightly sidewards turn and the extra height at the button makes her appear slimmer and taller and at the same time adds more energy to the diagonals.
Her expression is pleasing, but not too much, thinking about your other ( male ) judges that will hang beside her, I think that the #1 ref is fine.
About the hands: The #1 is fine too because it is clear and harmonize with the figure, while the #4 is more puzzling. But you could use it for PR if you put your signature down into the lower left corner