I painted a portrait of my cousin’s son for my grandfather, because he wanted a painting of his great grandson. It was done with acrylics on canvas. You can see it if you go to:
www.geocities.com/cheesesquid then click on the little icon of the boy, or copy and paste www.geocities.com/cheesesquid/corban_portrait_med.jpg
This is my first real portrait I have ever made. I really rarely ever paint. I think it is ok, but I could have made it a lot better… I hope you guys like it.
That is really very good, and I hope your cousin has money, because it looks like that kid will someday need braces. 
Duuuuuude that was looowwww…
Sorry it was not intended as a jab,…my pardons if i offended. There is no shame in having crooked teeth. My best friend had teeth just like that, and his parents spent a fortune on dental bills. It is not something I ever held against him, and it would never occur to me to ridicule on this basis… Seriously,…it was not intended as an insult, though I see now that it could have been taken as such. I do apologize for my thoughtlessness.
Very nice! Especially for your first portrait.
Did you use a portrait photograph as a reference image? I was just wondering because the light highlights on both sides of his head appear almost as the flashes would when a protrait is shot. Kind of set up at angles off to the side of the subject. The same highlights are lacking however at the same angles on the sides of the face, however the front being very highlighted.
Not being critical, just offering some suggestions. Have you ever done much with glazes? The picture there is a wonderful basis with composistion and general color layout and everything, but if you was to glaze on a few layers of skin tones, it usually makes a wonderful effect. Also perhaps tune down the orange background a bit as it contrasts with the blue in the sweater. I figured this was the desired effect though, which looks good, just may steal a little of the glory from the center of interest. Perhaps some grey added to it, or some blue to drag it a little towards neutral, then adjust the value. Actually I think with orange the proper blue to neutral would have a little tint of green, though I’m not sure.
Just some ideas It really does look wonderful though.
As for the teeth… judging from the looks of his age, I’m betting they aren’t there to stay that long
Actually, I didn’t take the crooked teeth as an insult. He’s only around two years old, how perfect do you think his teeth would be when they are first popping out!
Thanks for the comments. I used a photo as a reference, so the lighting is pretty much the same. His hair has the light tones on the sides and darker in the middle because his hair is shinny and thin in real life, the light reflects off of it funny.
The orange in the background may be too bright. It was the first part I painted, so I didn’t really know how the picture might look overall. I just heared somewhere that you should start with the background and paint towards the forground, so everything layers good. Oh well, I’m fairly satisfied with how it turned out.
My grandfather picked it up today, and he was very happy with how it is. He gave me 25$ because he didn’t know how much it might be worth. Personally, I would have rather just given it to him as a gift – that’s why I didn’t haggle for more. Actually, it turns out that it’s a wedding aniversery present for my aunt and uncle, so it’s really a portrait of their grandson. I hope they like it.
I am so glad you did not take offense, and BTW that is a really cute kid. 
