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Patrick Taylor · 10-18-2005, 01:59 PM

Greetings,
I have not posted for some time now, my apologies. Due to injuries, and chronic pain I fell into a slump. Unmotivated, the lack of energy to "go to the easel", I felt as if my creative, right brain had shut down. With time..."the healer of all wounds," I felt the great need to get back to that which gave me the greatest satisfaction and mental rehab....Painting. After feeling a sense of creative rejuvenation I dove into this small 8" x 10" portrait of this beautiful child.

Once, at a school teachers home, I saw this incredible picture with the kind of dramatic, chiaroscuro lighting that I look for in both portraiture and still life. I asked the mother if i could have her permission to paint her child, to which, she agreed.

The original photo had a portion of the mothers arm in the image but I cropped in to just get the face of the baby. After blocking in the shadow areas with umber, I painted the entire background dark. When I came back to it the next day I remembered seeing paintings of some living masters; David Leffel, Daniel Greene etc., In their portraiture, they would leave the outer edges of the painting unfinished. Allowing the eye to fill in the rest and drawing the focus to the center of interest, that being the portrait itself. So, with this on my mind, I took a palette knife and scraped off the background color just up to the face line. Then, I painted back in the background, only this time, leaving the top unfinished. I neutralized the background by adding some ochre to set it back and allowing the warm skin tones to pull forward. The unfinished top served two purposes; 1) It helped to draw the eye down to the face instead of wandering off the painting, 2) It provided the illusion of a light source from above.

This painting was finished during the onset of hurricane Katrina. When i presented the painting to the mother, at her school, she broke into tears saying..."Thats my precious baby." She said that she had been so torn inside from the devastation in the south and seeing the hungry children in the news that she wished there was something she could do. I told her that the money she paid for the painting, I would donate to the relief funds in both hers and my name, this way, we both will have contributed something to help.

Thank you for listening to this special story, one of hope and realization that we as artists have been given gifts, not only for our own gain but mainly, to bring joy to others both through our images and or giving.

I hope this painting can bring a sense of joy and hope to you also.

8" x 10" Oil on Board

Painted from photo with permission from the parents.

10-18-2005, 01:59 PM	#1
Patrick Taylor Associate Member FT Professional Joined: Feb 2002 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 17	Glowing Innocence Greetings, I have not posted for some time now, my apologies. Due to injuries, and chronic pain I fell into a slump. Unmotivated, the lack of energy to "go to the easel", I felt as if my creative, right brain had shut down. With time..."the healer of all wounds," I felt the great need to get back to that which gave me the greatest satisfaction and mental rehab....Painting. After feeling a sense of creative rejuvenation I dove into this small 8" x 10" portrait of this beautiful child. Once, at a school teachers home, I saw this incredible picture with the kind of dramatic, chiaroscuro lighting that I look for in both portraiture and still life. I asked the mother if i could have her permission to paint her child, to which, she agreed. The original photo had a portion of the mothers arm in the image but I cropped in to just get the face of the baby. After blocking in the shadow areas with umber, I painted the entire background dark. When I came back to it the next day I remembered seeing paintings of some living masters; David Leffel, Daniel Greene etc., In their portraiture, they would leave the outer edges of the painting unfinished. Allowing the eye to fill in the rest and drawing the focus to the center of interest, that being the portrait itself. So, with this on my mind, I took a palette knife and scraped off the background color just up to the face line. Then, I painted back in the background, only this time, leaving the top unfinished. I neutralized the background by adding some ochre to set it back and allowing the warm skin tones to pull forward. The unfinished top served two purposes; 1) It helped to draw the eye down to the face instead of wandering off the painting, 2) It provided the illusion of a light source from above. This painting was finished during the onset of hurricane Katrina. When i presented the painting to the mother, at her school, she broke into tears saying..."Thats my precious baby." She said that she had been so torn inside from the devastation in the south and seeing the hungry children in the news that she wished there was something she could do. I told her that the money she paid for the painting, I would donate to the relief funds in both hers and my name, this way, we both will have contributed something to help. Thank you for listening to this special story, one of hope and realization that we as artists have been given gifts, not only for our own gain but mainly, to bring joy to others both through our images and or giving. I hope this painting can bring a sense of joy and hope to you also. 8" x 10" Oil on Board Painted from photo with permission from the parents. Attached Images __________________ Patrick Taylor [email protected]