The model’s eyes are so expressive. I remember when she was a just a baby. Now she has grown into such a lovely young lady. This painting evolved from several ideas. I have been wanting to work with extreme lighting again and I found my chance with this one. I have to admit, “I hate painting white tee shirts!” This was a grand challenge for me. I am glad I can scratch that off of my rather long list of “Things I Hate Painting but Should Probably Try.” I actually do have this list and I can honestly say I have scratched three things off since I began daily painting.
11x14 in acrylic on hardboard I love pattern! I was immediately drawn in by the polka dots on the little girl’s dress. Before I retired from teaching, I would often remind my students that, just because something looks simple didn’t mean it will be easy. I myself relearned this lesson with this painting. Polka dots are simple enough but making them interesting is the hard part. When painting the polka dots, I had to make the ones on her dress more dynamic than those in the background to avoid a flat painting. It was a painstaking process, but in the end, the effort was well worth it. This piece also taught me patience. I originally started with a much larger version of this painting on stretched canvas, which I was eager to dive into. However, after five days of repainting the face for what felt like the hundredth time, I started questioning my own sanity. I’m not one to give up, but this one nearly broke me. Realizing I needed a new approach, I took a step back. I hadn’t painted in a ...
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