Oil portrait

Catherine Ingleby · 12-21-2001, 01:36 PM

I would be very interested to have some feedback on this portrait. It is of an Italian called Pietro and its actual dimensions are lifesize.
Many thanks and happy Christmas!
Catherine

Karin Wells · 12-21-2001, 06:15 PM

Nice job. I find this to be a fine strong head with an interesting silhouette. Generally I stay away from life size portraits as any flaws in the execution will seem to be emphasized.

The only suggestion I would make might be to add more color to the reflected light within the shadow area in order to differentiate it from the direct light.

Cynthia Daniel · 12-21-2001, 06:31 PM

A really well-done portrait Catherine. Speaking from a layman's viewpoint, it has an intensity and strength that captivates me.

Maxine Gilder · 12-21-2001, 10:34 PM

Catherine,

I really like your portrait. He shows a strength of character about him that is striking!

Have you thought of coming in somewhere with a different color, perhaps in the background to give it just a little more contrast? I like the grey, but maybe since the shirt is that color you could change it up a bit more behind him. I really love the face! Good job!

Cynthia Daniel · 12-21-2001, 11:06 PM

Maxine,

The shirt shows as blue on my monitor. Really don't see grey anywhere. The colors are definitely muted, but definitely blue here.

Maxine Gilder · 12-21-2001, 11:23 PM

Hi Cynthia,
I still feel the same way even though the shirt is blue. I see the way the same color is used all through the painting, which is a good idea, because it gives the painting integration. However, the fact that it is used so much is monotonous for me. Of course this is just my own opinion, I really love color. Some people prefer a more limited palette.

Catherine Ingleby · 12-22-2001, 08:17 AM

Thanks for the comments. As is often the case the reproduction hasn't quite captured the colours of the original. The shirt is indeed a muted blue but the background is a far stronger ochre/green in reality. Interestingly I do use a limited palette. Five colours to be precise. Lead white, ivory black, english red, light yellow ochre, and ultramarine blue (although this only for materials).

I make them myself and so far have not seen the need to increase my colour range as pretty much any colour can be achieved by mixing the main four and it makes it much easier to achieve an overall unity.

Many thanks again for comments, it's fantastic to have so much feedback and extremely useful!

Daniel Arredondo · 01-01-2002, 04:19 AM

Nice portrait. Check the ear, the orifice seems a little large and too far to the bottom of the ear. There also seems to an indefinite line coming into the orifice from the top.

Your painting would also look better with the line at the back of the head being softer.

Put some ambient light colors in the shadow side of the face.

I very much like the lighted side of your portrait.

Daniel
PS Happy new year.

Steven Sweeney · 01-09-2002, 12:50 AM

I, too, like the overall pattern on the light side, which works especially well because the lights are linked; that is, there isn't a little spot of light here, and another there. The linkage actually simplifies the light shape and, in doing so, makes it more powerful.

I admit that my first impression as the page opened up was that the entire portrait was very "cool" in colour. (This may be owing to the digital reproduction.) Since even the flesh tones seem cool to me, I wonder if some interesting contrast might be introduced by working some orange (complementing the blue) into the background, perhaps using raw and burnt siennas. I notice that you've worked some oranges into the hair already.

Bringing the "light side" and "colour" discussion together (and again realizing that a snapshot often fails to pick up nuances of colour), I believe the light side of the face could be warmed up a bit in places, particularly at the sides of the forehead, where the facial planes begin to turn away from the light (and eventually move into the cooler, greenish halftones and shadows). Right now, the white-tinted highlight on the forehead goes from one side to the other without much variation, making the forehead appear flat (and of course, for all I know, it is -- but I suspect that one smaller area within the forehead was the location of the strongest highlight, with the areas around that focus being slightly warmer.)

The drawing of the features is very good, especially in this often-tricky 3/4 pose. I don't know your training, but you've obviously spent some time studying the figure. The mouth and "muzzle", an area that I struggle with, are well executed. (Paul Leveille makes a point of reminding us that the mouth is not just lips, but lips as part of a "muzzle", a musculature structure.) I would mention only a couple of little quibbly things to consider.

1-- From the viewer's perspective, the eye on the left seems to be looking higher and more to the right than does the eye on the far-side right. I would bring the colour of the iris ring farther to the left, and also round out what is now a too straight-edged iris (think of the iris/pupil as an inverted plate sitting on a sphere). You have that roundness in the iris on the other eye, and properly low.

2-- Again, from the viewer's perspective, the right nostril seems to disappear too completely. Though it flares upward and we can't see that on the off-side, the base would be about as low on the far side as on the near side (tiny allowance for perspective). The septum also thins out too much, winding up centered left of its "normal" location directly above the center of the upper lip.

3-- Some well-placed, slightly darker halftones at the top of the nose would be useful to "turn" the brow down a bit to meet the nose, and to "turn" the left side of the nose away from the light (and soften that sharp dark shadow line).

4-- I agree that the ear "orifice" is a bit too prominent. It may be too large, but I suspect that it's simply a bit too dark; indeed, it looks almost black. It's easy to overmodel ears and to introduce too great an extension of values. It seems that with ears, the less notice, the better, and right now the dark area's contrast with the rest of the ear is whistling for attention that it shouldn't get.

I agree that the "back" (left) edge of the hair should be softened. This will, among other things, help that part of the head recede, as it should (the sharp edge causes it to come forward.)

Kind of long-winded but I hope there's something that might seem worth having a look at.

Steven Sweeney · 01-09-2002, 02:09 AM

P.S. One last "drawing" point. If the shirt or jacket is hooded, then that part of the material would be thicker and sit on top of the shoulder. If this is instead a collared garment, I'd suggest moving the point of the color off the shoulder, so that it isn't directly in line with the shoulder's edge. Just a little movement would be enough to make clearer that the collar is in front of the shoulder and above the pectoral muscle (and, so, add some depth to an area that looks a little vertical and flat.)