.Shiver

Artist's Statement/Title:
The title leaves me curious about this one. It's a fabulous portrait, but I'd originally thought it the model's name until you mentioned it was Joelle. While I can see the colors alluding to a peaceful or positive atmosphere, I find the facial expression doesn't quite match it with her almost far off, daydreaming look.

Subject/Composition:
As a portrait, I don't see anything extraordinary when it comes to the pose, but I think you did a great job with an obviously beautiful model. My eyes were drawn not only to the face, but the different highlights throughout the hair. I'm curious to know if this was some sort of style she'd done to her hair or if it this was the lighting that caused the various white strands to stand out. Regardless, I find it to be one of my favorite parts about this.

I might suggest smoothing out the lines in her arm and perhaps smoothing out the shine on that same shoulder since it seems a bit bumpy. While the shirt is a wonderful light white with hints of purple, I think it could have benefited from some slightly darker lines to bring more definition in. Her hair and skin are very dark and the lines crisp, but shirt almost feels unfinished compared to the rest.

Colors/Contrast
I'm simply blown away by the colors. I love the use of purple, brown, and black, coupled with the beautiful white highlights that a continued in her lips, eyes, and the shirt. Particularly I love that you mixed your browns and purples a lot, keeping it consistent and not letting it overpower one or the other. I'm really taken with the shine in her lips and eyes, which could have been distracting with how bright they are, but isn't when set along side the shiny strands of hair.

While I like the background, the only beef I have with it is that you have no repeated greens in the model. It's a nice drop to the browns and you can see some of the blue hidden in the purple, but I wouldn't do away with it entirely. If you do decide to redo it with other colors, I might suggest sticking to the lighter side, as Joelle's contrast against the pale paper might be lost against darker background colors.

Emotional Response
While this doesn't evoke strong kenesthetic empathy when it comes to feeling hope, I do feel a serene, dream-like connection with it. The soft colors and lighting, coupled with that far off look make me think she's sitting at a window, staring out into the ambient morning light and contemplating poetry.