After a tutorial with Robin, and at his suggestion, I added a light switch to the wall and narrowed the bedroom doorway. This narrowing had the effect of obscuring part of the crucifix and thereby creating some tension in the composition.
Tricia Cottrell: Loss of Innocence in progress: (2014)
Media: Acrylic on Hardboard
Dimensions: 119.5cm x 63cm
Location: Artists Collection
Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014)
He also pointed out that the painting looked very flat and recommended that I look at some paintings by Vermeer and some of Hammershoi’s interiors to see how they used light and shade.
These are some of the images I looked at by Johannes Vermeer:
Johannes Vermeer: A Young Woman Seated at the Virginal: (1670-72)
Media: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 25.1 x 20cm
Location: Private Collection, New York
Image available at:
http://news.artnet.com/art-world/johannes-vermeer-the-36th-painting-30525/
Johannes Vermeer: The Geographer: 1668-1669
Media: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 51.6 x 45.4cm
Location: Staedel Museum, Frankfurt
Image available at:
http://www.staedelmuseum.de/en/collection-highlights
Johannes Vermeer: The Girl with the Wine Glass: (1659-1660)
Media: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 78 x 63cm
Location: Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig
Image available at:
https://vermeer0708.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/the-girl-with-the-wine-glass/
These are some of the images I looked at by Vilhelm Hammershoi:
Wilhelm Hammershoi: Interior: (1899)
Media: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 64.5 x 58.1cm
Location: Tate Collection
Image available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/interior-199114
Wilhelm Hammershoi: Interior, Sunlight on the Floor (1906)
Media: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 51.8 x 44cm
Location: Tate Collection
Wilhelm Hammershoi: Woman in an Interior: (1909)
Media: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 57.1 x 62.2cm
Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Image available at:
These images can be found online at:
http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/woman-in-an-interior-34742
After studying these images, I decided that the light source would come from above and behind the figures in the doorway and painted the shadows accordingly. The painting no longer looks flat and I feel that it is much improved.
Tricia Cottrell: Loss of Innocence in progress: (2014)
Media: Acrylic on Hardboard
Dimensions: 119.5cm x 63cm
Location: Artists Collection
Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014
I spent some time debating whether or not to leave the figures with a ghostly appearance. In the end I decided that I would paint the man but leave the child so that she could be seen through, like a ghost, as if she is not really there. This represents the childhood that was stolen from me.
Tricia Cottrell: Loss of Innocence : (2014)
Media: Acrylic on Hardboard
Dimensions: 119.5cm x 63cm
Location: Artists Collection
Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014)
Up close and personal…
Video: Taken by Tricia Cottrell (2015)
