22 months

[Carlos Ygoa]

Marina!

Another unique way of presenting a child--and you have such a captivating way of doing it. Aside from the obvious technical mastery, the concept holds one

[Marina Dieul]

Enzie,Chris, Carol, Grethe, Alex, and Carlos : thank you very much !

I'm glad you find my concept interresting. There is so much to say about the babies and toddlers, they are fascinating persons, when you enter in their world. One thing I realised, is because they can't speak well yet, that they use body language much more than adults, and this is a good thing for a painting.
Having a baby is one of the most common experience in history of humanity, but when it's your turn to have a child, it's a complete miracle. What I'm trying to express in my babies portraits is those 2 facts :
- the allegorical side to express the belonging to humanity ( it could be any baby of any country and any era )
-and the unicity of this particular human, his nature, his own history, his feelings at this particular moment of his life...

That said, I had to laugh, Carlos, when I read about the little gaulish village : next time I will paint the bard behind! ( You know what ? I come from this part of the world so it's certainly a memory...)

[Thomasin Dewhurst]

This is wonderful, Marina. Really wonderful. I love the details such as the different expressions and positions of the hands (and fingers) and feet (and toes), and the way the flesh presses against flesh. I love the stockiness of her legs and the weight of her pose pressing down on them. I love the reflected light in the shadows, and the musicality and rhythm of the brushmarks in the figure and drapery. And, of course, her face and personality are mesmerising. And your background is splendid too - such good space expressed and so nice to see the brush marks. And, of course again, your colour is brilliant. So very well done!

[Garth Herrick]

Dear Marina,

Again, WOW! A General's grand-daughter indeed; she is so commanding in this dramatic masterwork! She is going to get more looks than anyone, in this portrait (and Forum). She means business with her admiring subject-viewers, as do you, Marina!. I love this! ...Everything about it. It is dynamic with this engaging toddler bursting upward compositionally through a sheet draping downward. That's just brilliant! Also placing her intensive gaze in the center, is powerful, by default (and design).

Bravo, and congratulations!

Garth

[Tom Edgerton]

Just fantastic...a real reminder concept is everything!

[Marina Dieul]

Thomasin, Garth, Allan, Tom: thank you so much for your generous comments!
Here are some close ups. Is it close enough for you, Allan? I couldn't do better today, because there is not much light today...

[Cindy Procious]

This is absolutely wonderful. I love how she's even raising one eyebrow - very imperious gaze.

Can you tell us how you arrived at this composition? What were your thought process - and how many different poses did you try before you got to this one?

What were the circumstances surround her bent over posture? Was she responding to something someone said, or did you ask her to do that?

And, what's the significance of the book in the lower left?

[Christy Talbott]

This is really a beauty. I love everything about it! And what a special, unique pose.. a tender little child with a sort of 'take charge' body language going on. Awesome work!

edit: I posted, but only saw these close-ups after. How'd I do that?.. Anyway, wow! Thanks for posting them! I get to take a good long, close up look at the lovely details. That's a great question from Cindy.. incredibly interesting to learn how you work.

[Cindy Procious]

Thank you so much for the glimpse into your thought processes.

One more question if you'll indulge me... which art book{s} do you find most inspirational with regards to children's/babies portrait ideas?

Thanks!

[Marina Dieul]

Thank you, Christy !
I don't think we've already "met", so welcome to the Forum!

Oh la la! Cindy, what insatiable curiosity!
Well, I look a little of everything, mostly paintings from 16th to 18th centuries( lot of italian). I also have a little book from Tashen "angels" ( only paintings representing angels from different times) My mother offered it to me few years ago, and I didn't really care at this time, but finally it launched my series of cherub.
I have to say that I have a special way to operate in every day life : for exemple, if I read a cake recipe, before testing and tasting, I immediately think : hum, this looks good... But it would be better if I add this, and it would certainly be a good idea to replace this with that...
And I'm afraid I'm doing the same thing with paintings. Sometimes, I just want to recreate an old painting which I like a lot, but I change the subject, the composition, the colors...I also like series: one painting bringing another, because when I finish a successful painting, I immediately think: well, it wasn't bad, but if I change this and that maybe it could be even more interresting.So I begin another one...