"Little Jen and David"

Rochelle Brown · 05-22-2003, 12:44 PM

Here is "Little Jen and David". It is 16" x 20" in oil. I no longer have the reference material. Professional critique is desired. Digital manipulation is acceptable.

Karin Wells · 05-23-2003, 05:47 PM

I'd love to comment but this is verrrry difficult to see on my monitor. Could you post a better picture and/or a detail shot of this painting?

Rochelle Brown · 05-23-2003, 05:56 PM

Karin,

Thanks for looking. I no longer have the painting and this is the best photo of it. I'm sorry you can't see the painting. I've seen it on several moniters and it is visible. May I ask what kind of monitor you have?

By the way, your new photo looks good.

Karin Wells · 05-23-2003, 06:03 PM

The front of my monitor says "Quantex." This is a sweet picture but unfortunately the painting looks washed out and I cannot see the form most especially in the baby's face. Rats. It appears as if the values at both ends of the scale are clumped together and the "middle" tones are missing.

Thanks for your kind words, the new pix was taken weeks ago whereas the old one was about 10 years old. I guess it was time to bite the bullet, be honest and update.

Rochelle Brown · 05-23-2003, 06:14 PM

There is a lot of contrast to be certain and not many middle tones. I guess I was so taken by the sweet dreaminess of the scene that I accepted the photo.

Michele Rushworth · 05-23-2003, 08:35 PM

It is a very sweet pose, but unfortunately there are some major technical problems that all seem to have originated in the source photo itself. With the harshness of the light in the reference shot I think it would have been impossible to make a good portrait painting.

As Karin mentioned, the values are extremely compressed at the high and low ends of the spectrum, with no middle tones. The flash that was used to photograph these subjects has flattened out the forms, distorted the skintones and created some very harsh edgy shapes in the girl's hair and unnatural shadows on her neck and chin.

In addition (and maybe this also existed in the source photo) there's some distortion in the shape of the heads. That can be caused by a camera used on wide angle setting and positioned too close to the subject.

Like many of the artists on this Forum, I learned the hard way that it's not possible to make a good painting from a bad photo. I think if you photograph some subjects yourself (single source of light, no flash, from a greater distance, not using the wide angle setting on the camera) you will be able to create some really nice work.

Rochelle Brown · 05-23-2003, 08:42 PM

Thanks, Michele.

Your honesty and encouragement are appreciated.