"AFRICAN CHILD," 10122, daily painter portait study © Carol Nelson Fine Art

In this portrait of an African child, there are several things going on. I like the over the shoulder pose with the whistfull, almost dreamy look of the child. Notice there are two obvious light sources - a golden light on the right side that is slightly behind the figure, and a cooler white light on the left, frontal side.
The warm reds of the robe are also reflected on the face. Careful observation of these subtle nuances of light are essential when looking at the reference material. I deliberately chose this tightly cropped composition because I wanted the face to be dominant in the smaller format.
This 7x5 painting is available for $85, including shipping in the US/Canada. Please click here to go to my website for a Paypal button.

Bronson, 9x12 oil portrait of child

This little boy's expression was so compelling I just had to paint him. He name is Bronson (aka Pooper) and he is the son of my former coworkers, Jason and Angela. My challenge in this portrait was to render an accurate portrait and still keep the painting loose. Perhaps a finer gauge canvas or a smooth panel would have been a better support choice.
Of course at the time I was going to upload the picture, my photo editing software (Picture It) decided to crash. I had another program, GIMP, to work with, but I was totally unfamiliar with it and it took me forever. I have a lot to learn on GIMP - it's the free version of Photoshop. The program has the capability to do way more with a photo than I would ever use for photos of paintings. I'm mainly interested in cropping, color correction, lightness and contrast.
For tutorials on using GIMP, see www.emptyeasel.com.
SOLD

Maria, 12x16 original oil painting of Mexican girl

For a dollar, she struck this coquettish post, just like a pro. What a little sweetie, a dark-eyed beauty to be sure. Children in small Mexican villages often supplement their family's income by posing in their colorful outfits for tourists' cameras.

For purchase information, please see www.carolnelsonfineart.com, click on works, then figures.

The Young Gardener - Final

I did the background twice. Since the subject is so vibrant and detailed, I finally decided that the background had to be neutral and simple. SOLD

La Nina, 11x14 oil

The last art show I was in had spotty attendance, so sales were not very good. One really good thing came out of it, however. I was looking at photographer Bruce Norman's (www.brucenorman.com) album and saw some pictures he took that, to me, were begging to be painted. This little girl was photographed on Bruce's trip to Peru. She is so adorable. It took me a long time to complete this painting, with all the shading on the face and the colorful hat. I hope I captured that sweet, innocent face.

SOLD