Wild Roses

[pittore]

20x16 Oil on canvas....I generally like this piece tho there is something about it that I question...I can't put my finger on it! would love some input...http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/27-Aug-2009/94857-roses_on_the_grass_20x16.jpg

[roy-p]

Lovely bold strokes and great simplicity of composition. The eye is immediately focused on the figure and then the arm leads the viewer's gaze away to other areas in the painting.

Perhaps what bothers you is the way the arm is stretched out? The lighter, oblique stroke just above her arm pit seems to suggest a stress point, like she's swinging her arm too far out for comfort? I'm not too sure, may be you'll need to check with the reference.

Slightly filling up the blue at the upper edge of the torso (to the immediate left of the armpit) with the adjacent flesh tint might release some of this apparent stress, along with raising the said oblique stroke to a higher level so as to better reflect the outline of the spine of scapula. That's what it really is, I think. This lighter pink stroke at the present location would suggest the Teres Major muscle (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Gray810.png), which in any case attaches on the inner side of the humerus, rather than on the outside. Could this have been the Teres Minor - it could, but then that muscle is just too small, and the Deltoid would've covered it anyway.

Just babbling to myself at this point, lol! Thank you for posting this delightful pic :thumbsup:

[TinaC]

My first reaction was the outstretched arm, it appears to curve unnaturally and I am not able read the hand properly. Maybe a bit more dark in her eye area and ear too. I do love the composition and the feeling in this, its very appealing.

[kevinwueste]

some great feedback here for you. I think the gesture of her pose is quite nicely captured. her arm and musculature have been covered well above by Prosenjit and Tina.. Two other items worth consideration may be how you have handled foreshortening her forms ( leg forms, the arm) and managing the edges and perspective and form-over-form. Secondly, her head ( her face more specifically) could use - even in a nice loose painting - a bit more thought on the correct shapes - at least w/o a view of your reference - it appears to not be as correctly in perspective as it might be.

consider or discard this feedback at your leisure.

[jjackm]

Not much more to say. Great colors, nice vase and flowers. I would take a second look at her left side, the breast shape. It seems so big, maybe it is caused by the line that goes up it? Just a thought.

[macrobertson]

Lovely loose brushwork, and the foreground and skintones on the figure work really well
My suggestions, apart from what has been mentioned, is that the vase would fit better if it was what she was reaching out to rather than in front of her arm, and maybe tone down the roses a little...they really stand out!
... and put a little blue into the background to push it a little further back?

Mac