: a superficial or intermittent interest, investigation, or experiment
"Intermittent" is why I chose this word as my post title as I believe it best describes my activity in painting these past couple of years. I've been lucky enough, though, to have been able to do a little more "dabbling" than usual since my last major piece--the Velazquez copy of this past summer.
A good friend of mine was nice enough to "lend" me her kids to use as models for little portrait sketches--three delightful little ones: a three-year old boy, a two-year old girl and the youngest girl who just had her first birthday. Bursting with energy, all three of them, so needless to say, any attempt to paint these toddlers from life was not even considered...so I had to resort to a series of photographs of each to work from. It was good exercise and such a pleasure to paint heads again, even if not from life. It had been quite some time since my last head study in oil, so this experience was very welcome. My sincerest thanks again to these kids' parents for having to put up with the "pest with a camera" intruding upon their quality family time...
"Nicolas", oil on canvas on panel, 40 x 30 cm
"Loreto", oil on canvas on panel, 40 x 30 cm
"Teresa", oil on canvas on panel, 28 x 21 cm
One cannot help but think how a painter like Sargent could pull of something like "The Daughters of Edward D. Boit"-- that little girl in the foreground --!! how he managed to get a likeness with his brand of "shorthand" with the brushstrokes-- and having to work with such a young child as a model. Many other painters come to mind, for that matter, their "superhuman" powers of concentration, observation, and painterly dexterity that they needed to have to succeed in portraying children before the advent of photography. Simply amazing...
I'd also been able to work out a few other small pieces prior to these head studies, all of them just to keep the old hand warm...
"Bananas", oil on canvas on cardboard, 15 x 20 cm
"Bottle", oil on canvas on cardboard, 21 x 15 cm
"Old reliable", oil on panel, 27 x 35 cm
"Loreto", oil on canvas on panel, 40 x 30 cm
"Teresa", oil on canvas on panel, 28 x 21 cmOne cannot help but think how a painter like Sargent could pull of something like "The Daughters of Edward D. Boit"-- that little girl in the foreground --!! how he managed to get a likeness with his brand of "shorthand" with the brushstrokes-- and having to work with such a young child as a model. Many other painters come to mind, for that matter, their "superhuman" powers of concentration, observation, and painterly dexterity that they needed to have to succeed in portraying children before the advent of photography. Simply amazing...
"Bananas", oil on canvas on cardboard, 15 x 20 cm
"Bottle", oil on canvas on cardboard, 21 x 15 cm
"Old reliable", oil on panel, 27 x 35 cm
