This work is a commission from a family friend. The girls are close friends of my daughter, their mother is one of my wife's best friends and their father is a good friend and my sponsor through the RCIA program. This is also my first portrait.
The photo was taken at the older girl's "graduation" from pre-school, about June of '08 and is a Christmas gift for their maternal grand parents. The light is coming from behind and their faces are in full shadow.
I presume I'm not the first to talk about the challenges of painting a portrait, as compared to anything else; however, I will take a little space here to do so:
First, since the middle of the 19th century, if you want an exact record of what a person looks like, nothing can compete with a photograph; therefore,
Second, an artist should attempt to capture the emotion or feeling behind the picture, rather than simply reproduce the image. On the other hand,
Third, the image must be recognizable, as the individual, without looking cartoonish.
This is hard and I have a lot of room to grow, but their mom is happy with the picture and so am I.
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