unfinished need help by paul winstanley

I think that this works very well with the background colour you have selected as it does not overshadow the lovely portrait that you have painted. The only other advice is to maybe make it a green-grey background, rather than blue-grey as that would work better with the red tones in the painting. The background colour that you have used gives the painting a soft and gentle quality so please don't change it on my account as I'm not that great at giving advice at the best of times!

You do ask for trouble, seeking advice from us lot! However - the thing that stands out too much for me is the animal or toy in the foreground: I can't tell if it's alive or stuffed, and a bit of work is needed on that (probably you were going to anyway, and it's the portrait of the girl you want advice on, but the critter is rather hitting me in the eye). I think the portrait itself is fine, the only suggestion I would have is that the parting of her hair looks a bit stringy in places and could be defined better: and you could then highlight the hair with thicker paint where the light hits the head. I'm puzzling a bit over the background - I find them just as difficult as anyone else does! A muted green glaze should vibrate against the red of the cardigan, and is a good colour generally for portraits; it shouldn't be a red; you might get away with a gold (coloured) glaze - not blue; probably not purple ... it needs to be thin, anyway, to be a glaze not heavily applied paint. (The great thing about glazes is that, if you've the patience, you can always change them later.) And how about following through on that highlight, if you want to brighten things up? The light is hitting the head at the right as we look at it; a splash of lighter colour on the left, on the sleeve - just a touch, nothing dramatic - would follow the diagonal path of the light. The lock of hair hit by the light and curling over the forehead could do with a corresponding shadow, or at least a line or two of definition. But if it all now goes wrong, just remember it wasn't me that suggested any of this but some other chap.

cheers sarah, i'll try adding a bit of greenish grey to the background, it will also tie in with the eyes on the toy which will be green!!

thanks robert, i'll try all that with the hair. should have the finished painting on here in a day or two!

I'm just liking the portrait as it is. I think the background colour works well as it picks up the colour of the girl's blouse. The cuddly toy is a bit dominant but then perhaps you are trying to tell us that this is a VIP to the little girl in which case it deserves centre stage. I think you have conveyed a lovely expression on the child's face which tells us a lot about her personality - a great thing to achieve in a portrait. A painting to be proud of.

The portrait works beautifully for me, but like Robert, I have a problem with the foreground 'objet', which needs a lot more work to balance the picture. You obviously have the skill to paint it really well, so let's see it!