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I am working on a group portrait that is practically finished. However, I have a dilemma with the background. The reference photo has the front of the house but if I copy this background it may take away the focal point of the work. The two options are not to do anything or render a blurred background. I have done a short sketch of the copy of the work and added some lines and I placed emphasis on the dark values on our right side in order to have a quasi diagonal aspect to create more punch to it. On purpose, I erased some lines of the background on the left side. I would appreciated some suggestions.
The work was done on a 23X15, Archer paper, and using hard graphite and only HB for the very darks, in order to avoid the shine of the soft graphite.
Thank you for watching.
Surprisingly- I like the background one. I am usually not a fan, but this gives an enclosed sense of place to the people.
Great portraits!bethany
moderator in figures & portraits blogs: artbybethany life-presence
website www.bethanyart.com
My inspiration is art... because without art, we would just be stuck with reality. ~Daniel R. Lynch
It is your call really, but I feel the background can be helpful compositionally- the vertical and horizontals support the pyramid placements of the family and add a place/architectural context to the portrait. (I trust your perspective will be correct in the final)
Ken Tiessen
www.KenTiessenArt.com
Comments or Critiques welcomed...always!I like the background. It tells me where they are. Without it, I might think they are in a formal studio setting. The background does not take away from the subject matter.
Quwatha Valentine
Usually I would say: get rid of the background, but it works well the way you did it.:)
Connie
www.connievanwinssen.com
That portion of the house is rather a busy one. What about leaving out the clutter and add just a suggestion of bricks or shrubbery or something like that?
Thank you.
It is your call really, but I feel the background can be helpful compositionally- the vertical and horizontals support the pyramid placements of the family and add a place/architectural context to the portrait. (I trust your perspective will be correct in the final)
Ken,
Surprisily enough I was telling my wife that we have two piramids in this composition: The children and the dogs, and the other one is the parents! The lines of the background will be rather thin and using only 4H graphite, but I will add more emphasis at the base of the column so the darker values will unify the dog and the girls. BTW, the perspective will be fixed. Thank you.
Kevin, Harry:
Thank you for your comments. One think everybody agrees is to place some kind of background, and very subtle. I appreciated it very much.
I like it more with the background
Federico Garcia
My Blog
C&C always welcome
"...when someone gives a critique of your work, fear not. It usually means they like or care more of your work than when they just pat your back." - Tiago
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