From life, but unrealistic

[Cheryl Ellicott]

Removing old post. Thanks.

[Chris Saper]

Dear Cheryl,

Your observation is certainly correct - most of the painters on this site are quite representational, as that is what characterizes most commissioned portraits. So it is difficult sometimes for members to offer a useful critique for work that is very stylized as is yours.

The things that stand out to me as areas I would change, may not be areas of concern to you, so please take my comments in that vein.The light on your face looks the same to me as the light you would see on a photo reference taken with an on-camera flash - and as result, creates predictable problems with light and shadow that are necessary to model form into a 3-d appearance. The light source on your face conflicts with the light source on your neck and hair.

I think that the painting would gain a sense of movement if the shoulders were not so on-square, and if the negative spaces were not so symmetrical. I always consider what will happen once I place a painting into a frame- here you will likely get a distracting tangent with the decoration at the neckline's scoop, with the upper arm on our left, and with your signature.

Hope that is helpful.