|
Thank you, Tom and Mike! Life was what I was aiming for. When I'm doing a posthumous portrait I feel as though I'm bringing the person back to life. I think all portrait painters must feel this way.
All the people who knew her and shared their stories about her agreed that her smile was a very important thing about her. I wished I had known her, because watching her on the videos was a real experience. She had an incredible sense of humor. When she was on the David Letterman show, they fed off each others' humor. Amazing to watch! She could maintain a serious expression for quite a while, then she would get a gleam in her eyes and break into a wide smile or start laughing. After watching these tapes over several times, I became interested in the whole smiling process, especially the moment when she first got the gleam in her eye. I decided this was the moment I wanted to capture in my portrait. It had the potential energy.
|