My niece Sadie just turned 15 yesterday - hard to believe since it seems as though I just saw her be born yesterday. I have a beautiful black and white photo of her that I've been wanting to paint for a while, and I decided to do it as a birthday present for her. As a bonus, this finally motivated me to emerge from my art drought.
It's so much harder to paint someone you know, than someone from your imagination or just a stranger where it doesn't matter if it 's a true likeness. I found myself re-working this over and over again - the tiniest line or shading seemed as though it could take it from being just a girl to being Sadie, and back again.
Here's Sadie holding her just opened portrait at her birthday dinner at Spaghetti Factory, her favorite restaurant since she was toddler. The first time we took her there she sat in her high chair and just focused 100% of her attention on shoveling spaghetti into her mouth and it's been her favorite food ever since - just like her Aunt Terri.
Now to regroup, get my studio under control and decide what I want to focus on next. The holidays are over, no more excuses...
