Thank you all so much!
After doing this one I've been musing on...beauty - feminine beauty in particular. I've been thinking that there is a generally accepted notion of beauty that is cultural, contemporary - particular to a certain time or place. But as an artist, I'm finding that there is another kind of beauty - a beauty that is timeless, classical (and the question here is: is this a case of us artists being influenced by what went before, the paintings of bygone eras depicting what was
then fashionable beauty? - or is there a "timeless" element that past artists were revealing?) I think most people would say Arianne is an exceptionally beautiful young lady - she could be a successful model if she wanted to - and yet, when I was doing her portrait, I wasn't so inspired in the process of rendering her face. Conversely, there have been other women/girls I have drawn/painted who, though they would probably not be considered a great beauty by many, they have got
something...I'm thinking of
Diana - in real life, I'm sure many would say she's attractive, but not gorgeous - yet I was so inspired in doing her portrait ....was it a different kind of beauty, or a hidden beauty somehow...? I don't know...
Does any of this make sense? Do you experience this?
David