"Marianne"

Sandra Quintus · 10-31-2005, 10:24 PM

Thank you for your comment, Mark. Marianne is a good friend and she has an amazing spirit! Tried to capture a bit of that spark!
Sandra

Steven Sweeney · 10-31-2005, 10:36 PM

Hi, Sandra,

You

Sandra Quintus · 10-31-2005, 10:51 PM

Steve,
Wow! This is great! I am amazed at how helpfull all this is to me.

Calla lillies is right.

And I want you to know how much I appreciate your suggestions. I feel this is one of my best portraits to date, but I also realize there are some things that are just plain distracting in it from her face and expression. I am going to read your suggestions with painting in hand and think about what I might do to simplify the areas around her.

I think the nose is accurate. She is German/gypsy descent, whose ancestors migrated north from Morocco across Spain to Germany. Very unusual, exotic beauty.

Thanks again for your comments.
Sandra

Sharon Knettell · 11-01-2005, 07:30 PM

Sandra,

This is very lovely, accomplished portrait of an unusual beauty. I love the relaxed sinuous pose; something that is quite difficult to pull off. You have made it work. Steven has made some excellent and useful comments and I won't touch on those.

I know I am probably going to get a lot of raspberries from your admirers, but the calla lilies are just too distracting: perhaps it is their whiteness or stiffness. It is a very soft and curvy pose that calls for a more rhythmic type of flower or none save the ones in back.

I know it is a maddening problem, what to do with the hands. It is one that afflicts all figurative and portrait artists. Personally I would have preferred a gypsy type of scarf draped from her hands: it would have added another way of adding additional color notes and said (I think) more about her personality. Actually I am not of fan of sticking flowers into the hands of female sitters ( although I must confess to this sin myself): it always looks somehow artificial and forced. I think the portrait artist should always try for something a bit less overused and more telling.

Sandra Quintus · 11-01-2005, 08:18 PM

Sharon,
Thank you so much for your complements and well thought out suggestions. Your work is beautiful, and I respect your opinion.
I am really new at sitting the subject and I agree that something more simple would have been better. I am a big fan of Daniel Gerhardtz and I have to admit the calla lillies were a lame imitation... hope he remembers that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I read something here that I think will help in future poses, that the modern trend is to have the sitter in a relaxed pose, hands folded or just held naturally. A gypsy-like scarf could have carried out the vibrance and movement in the same way I have hoped the flowers would. Maybe it is the stark white. Everything else in the room was very "Old World" in color... golds and eggplant... and her black velvet dress with Spanish lace.

Is anyone else inclined to paint the same subject more than once or twice, trying different things each time? Every time I have done that, my son tells me, "Mom, MOVE ON!!"

Anyway, thanks again for the input.

Sandra

Sandra Quintus · 11-01-2005, 08:22 PM

Steve,
Just to let you know, I am still working on analyzing your many astute observations.
Thank you for giving your time, skill, and attention to this.
Sandra

Sandra Quintus · 11-01-2005, 08:27 PM

Oh, yes, and Sharon, I still would have her leaning into the fainting couch... Marianne was nervous when we sat down, so I told her to relax a bit while I mixed colors (Daniel Greene's method). She started chatting about her nieces and nephews (love of her life, since she is unmarried) and when I looked up, there she was, head on her hand, eyes sparkling... I asked her if she could be comfortable like that for 15-20 periods and she said she could.

Later I had the calla lillie idea. They were part of her decor and I thought they would fill out all that space.....

Sandra