Golden Girl
 

This is a painting of my step-daughter, Kim, as she looked when she recently graduated from the fifth grade. She had her hair crimped that day and I caught her standing beside the south-facing living room window, which has gold colored shears. I love how the filtered sunlight lit up her hair and face.

I can't get over how someone who is eleven years old can look so young and so mature at the same time!

Oil on Realgesso board, 11 x 14 (head is 6 inches)

Thanks for looking. :)

It goes to show the sensitivity of the painter, to capture the subject's spirit in the painting. I guess your step-daughter has an old soul...

Another thing i like about the painting is the Monet-ness of the background. Keep up the good work Molly. :thumbsup:

Thanks, Marcus,

Before I started the portrait, I went about toning the board, but my brush was so dry it made these prominent streaks. After looking at them, I thought I would incorporate that into the background. I just manipulated the big shapes to be consistent with the windows/light sources in the rooms.

A happy accident, as they say. ;)

Molly, I am admiring the edges on this painting - soft, gentle and lively. How did you like working on the Realgesso board?

Congratulations on an engaging portrait!

Hi Linda!

I really love working on the Realgesso board. It has such a smooth surface, but it really grabs the paints in a way I wouldn't have guessed. I suppose I had thought it would have been more slippery. Happily, it has just the right amount of "grab" for me. I had bought several panels to try out nearly a year ago, but have been using linen since then. I dusted this one off last week to try it out.

Thank you, Linda! :sunnysmil

Molly, sorry I missed this. It's lovely! You have a real gift (as I witnessed today) of capturing this little something that is the essence of the person's features, the subtle thing that brings them to life. I have no doubt you have done this here, because your stepdaughter is so alive and real.

Thank you Alex! I so appreciate you taking a peek at this.

I realized after I looked at the post again, that I had in fact fixed something wrong with the mouth since I posted it, and so uploaded a new photo. I hope it still qualifies as a portrait even though the mouth is fixed! ;)

I really like the warmth of the painting. Her expression is lovely

Lovely Molly. The scarlet red lips and golden necklace are a nice touch. Absolutely convincing portrayal of her soft crimped hairdo.

Molly, you are a brave one to tackle crimped hair! ;) Nice job!

I don't know how I missed this Molly. It is a beautiful painting. I especially am admiring the mouth, which I know is so difficult to do. I like the composition, it is very appealing. What a sweet girl. Congratulations.

How funny!
 

Thank you, everyone, for the recent activity and lovely remarks on this post, sorry I did not notice sooner! As it happens, I had been looking at this painting a lot over the past couple of years and as time went on, I decided it needed some improvements (I couldn't resist!).

So, I'm posting the results of a little recent fiddling with the painting. I like it better now. More dimensional. Maybe I'll do some more in a couple of years . . . :sunnysmil

Oh Molly!

This portrait is so alive and satisfying in every respect. I can relate with a daughter of my own about her age. It's a magical time you've captured!

Garth