Likeness?

[Andrea Kantrowitz]

I need help! The Mom is really happy with the two boys in this portrait, but not with the little girl. To me, it looks like her! It's 3' x 4' oil on canvas.

I suspect that the profile plus the smile obscure some of the child's more salient characteristics (such as wide set eyes and full lips).

Any advice on making this Mom happy?

[Andrea Kantrowitz]

These are some of the reference photos I am working with. On the bottom row, you can see the old version with photo on right, and new reference with photo on left.

Thanks!

[Mike McCarty]

Andrea,

One thing that would help a great deal is if you could post a section of just the girl's face in higher resolution. It's very difficult to view that small an area with any specificity.

[Jeff Fuchs]

Looking at the bottom two images, it looks to me like the slope of her face is wrong. In the painting, her chin recedes too far, compared to the photo. Her face seems to angle inward too much. See how features line up with each other with a plumb line.

As Mike suggested, use higher resolution photos, and put your photo reference next to your art. That makes it easier to see the differences.

Personally, I hate to have to resort to that, since I'm trying to learn to draw accurately by eye, but if you have a commission to save, pull out all the stops.

[Andrea Kantrowitz]

Is this better?

[Kimberly Dow]

Her forehead looks a bit too large in length to me.

I would re-photograph her with photos that show her turned more towards the viewer so that the mother can see the features she wants to.

[Steven Sweeney]

Andrea,

You

[Linda Brandon]

Hi Andrea,

Welcome to the Forum! Now that Steven has given you an extensive guide on how to improve this head, I have a more radical idea - get rid of this reference photo and use another one. (The photo to our left is better, but maybe not the best one you have).

The photo you're using is not quite a profile and not quite a three-quarter head. The tangent point between the cheek on our left and the tip of her nose is a clue that this is going to be a more difficult angle to "nail". I love that little turned up nose and if this were my commission I'd try to find an angle that catches some shadow to define it.

If you have a thin paint layer it's not difficult to start over on a new head. I'd apply a thin layer of medium over the whole head and start over (some people use retouch varnish, which I personally don't like to use).

Meanwhile, this is a nice composition. I like the idea of showing siblings doing things together. And such a big painting! Good for you for pulling this off.

Best wishes,

Linda

[Andrea Kantrowitz]

Thanks everyone. I so appreciate your time and insights! I feel like you're helping me not just with this painting, but with more general questions of my approach to likeness. I've been doing this as a business about 4 years, and find that overall I hit it just right about 60-75% of the time, but the likenesses I have difficulty with can be very frustrating for both me and my clients. I found Steven's detailed analysis really helpful in pointing out how much room I have to become more observant.

Perhaps it is a question that some poses and expressions are just a lot more difficult to capture than others? I most likely need to be more cautious when selecting them.

It is important to the mother that the girl is laughing at her youngest brother, so maybe the answer is to go to a more true profile, as Linda suggests.

I've already taken hundreds of photos for this commission (thank goodness for digital photography) so I'll pour through them once again and see if I can come up with something better!

Thanks again. After laboring alone, it's such a pleasure to get feedback from people who really know!

[Andrea Kantrowitz]

Linda, do you think this adequately addresses the 3/4-profile dillema? It may be the best I have.

(I hate to go back to the mom for more photos..)