22 months

Marina Dieul · 04-16-2007, 09:50 AM

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 · 04-16-2007, 01:13 PM

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 · 04-16-2007, 05:20 PM

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 · 04-16-2007, 06:25 PM

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

Marina Dieul · 04-17-2007, 09:26 AM

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 · 04-17-2007, 02:20 PM

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?

Marina Dieul · 04-17-2007, 08:39 PM

Hi Cindy,
Oh! lot of questions, I'll try to answer...
It was her second photo session. For the first session, my second daughter, who is the same age, was posing too, so there was a lot of emulation, they both wanted to be THE star. I couldn't obtain a satisfying reference, but I had a better idea of her personnality and how she was reacting in front of a camera.
For this second photo session, I had more precise ideas, but I knew it was just propositions she would answer or not. I wanted her to be naked, to be seated on something like a step, and I wanted a white sheet ( all this to give an allegorical level)
Then I had different accessories, like this book ( my note book...) that she could read.
At the begining of the session, I regreted my daughter wasn't there, because this little girl didn't want to pose at all. So, we just waited, and after 1/2 hour, she decided to take off herself her clothes. ( The 2 years old children love to be naked, but they also love to decide themselves)
I had put a wood beam over a chest ( a normal 2 years old is absolutely unable to resist climbing on this)
When she sat where I wanted,she was in the position I had decided. I gave her the sheet and the book but she wasn't very interrested by the book. During all the process, I was speaking to her, and her mother too. If you need that a child of that age raise an arm, for exemple, don't ask him to do it, he will say "NO!", but if you ask " Where is the ceiling?" he will be happy to show you.
The reference photo was #70 (among 100). She was playing with the sheet, and I just came to arrange the folds in a nice way, telling her something like " Oh! Look! You're going to be beautiful like this !" I came back to my camera and she looked at me this way. ( Maybe thinking " Did she really say beautiful?")
Her eyebrow wasn't raised as much, I changed that to add intensity to her gaze.
I needed several weeks to "digest" my references, and to compose a picture. I kept the idea of the book because I needed something to cut the horizontal line of the chest.
Well, it's just a glimpse of my process... I also look a lot art books, analyzing babies compositions, postures, accessories then refine all what I learned to keep only what interrests me. I always have my note book, noting every beginning of idea. I sometimes use my camera as if it was a sketch book, giving form to intuitions...

Christy Talbott · 04-18-2007, 12:18 AM

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 · 04-18-2007, 08:56 AM

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 · 04-18-2007, 09:23 PM

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...