Girl with Pearls

[Kenneth Kaiser]

Oil Portrait

I just finished this portrait (the original is 21" by 16") of a five year old girl. She was initially quite serious and nervous (I assume). After a few hours, however, she was enjoying herself and "active," and her mom needed to drag her away! This was my first painting involving different underpainting colors. For the skin, sepia was used, while burnt umber was used for the wood of the chair. The skin was lightened up using various whites before the glaze colors were applied. Of course, based on the image viewer used, the colors look different. Compared to the original, the skin tones are fairly good but the hair and dress are less orange.

[Thomasin Dewhurst]

I like that very much, Kenneth! I really enjoy its stylization.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Kenneth,

Thanks for telling something about the process. I love your composition, the way you simplified down to the minimum. It makes a strong statement. So does her expression! Could you post a closeup of her face? I'm interested to see how the final coat of paint looks in detail.

[Linda Brandon]

I really like this one, too, Kenneth. I love the way she has looped the pearls on her thumbs. It's a childlike gesture and makes for an interesting, 'out of the box' composition.

[Marina Dieul]

Nice contemporary look !
and your composition works very well.
Nice work!

[Kenneth Kaiser]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. Alexandra, please see my next post for a closeup of the face.

[Kenneth Kaiser]

Since it is so gloomy outside, I decided to use a combination of natural and artifical light to photograph the painting. I like the colors more (at least on my monitor) than my original post. However, the image is a little fuzzy and some of the details are lost/blurred at this ppi setting.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Thanks, Kenneth! I love her expression. It kind of reminds me of an expression my brother used to make when he was thinking of getting into mischief.