Proud housewife

[Carolyn Bannister]

Thanks everyone for the input, I actually agree with the points about the harsh transition but I went to such pains to keep the paper clean this time I wanted some input before I carried on.

I have made the adjustments to the background and the fingers but I won't bother posting them, I am definitely putting this one behind glass now.

It was a good practice of a more detailed look at a face and worth doing it for that.

Carolyn.

After reading Cindy's post in the oil critique section I decided to repost after taking onboard all valued input

[Allan Rahbek]

Now I am really nitpicking! These small frames don

[Carolyn Bannister]

Allan,

I couldn't agree more

To me it looks childish and amateurish

I've actually put it away in and started on a new one but now you've got me thinking about it again.

I thought about cropping it and just keeping the head and shoulders but I should rise to the challenge and figure out a way to make it work, I really would like to keep the depth to the room.

How about a curtain from ceiling to floor and make the whole of the back of the room very dark?

Maybe that's what I liked about the ref in the first place.

Thanks for taking the time to critique, I really do value your input.

[Mike McCarty]

I think this composition would be best suited to a full completion of the background.

When I first saw your reference I thought that it was the vertical wall segments, with their variations in value, that connected the foreground to the background. I think you could have more success by re-visiting your reference and covering the entire paper.

This is worth taking further, I think.

[Carolyn Bannister]

Not the best photo, it's blowing a gale outside, it was a struggle sticking it to the shutters (thats a professional photography term )

For some reason resizing it has made the table look a bit bent, but I think I've got away with it for real.

Is it a or a this time, if its a no I'm going to crop it

ps. Why do I feel just like I did in school when I always got ' could do better' on my reports.

[Allan Rahbek]

Originally Posted by Carolyn Bannister

Is it a or a this time, if its a no I'm going to crop it

Please don

[Carolyn Bannister]

Phew, breathes a sigh of relief!!

Allan,

Tusinde tak, your means a lot to me, I really admire your work. It was Mikes helpful comments about the vertical lines that made me realise what I had seen in the original ref.

I think I will stick to using my own ref's in future, they make much more sense to me.

By the way Demark is a beautiful place we lived in Dragor and Kobenhavn for a while, I really enjoyed it!

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Carolyn, maybe you would be interested in taking a look at this painting, which won the BP portrait award two years ago.
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/prelbpportraitwinner.asp
Many many compliments for this very accomplished piece
Ilaria