Artist's Daughter in the Studio

This is the piece that started my Beautiful Mundanity series. At the time I was in my studio working on one of the Battle Scars series. My daughter, then ten years old, was watching me work. She likes to be in there with me, either watching or working on her own projects. She tells me what she thinks of my work and is always brutally honest. On this day she surprised me by asking if I would paint a picture of her. She claimed she could sit still. I realized that if I want to paint reality, there could be nothing more real than what is actually happening at that moment. I agreed to paint her. I started with a quick charcoal sketch while she did her best to keep still – then I took several photos because I know my daughter well enough to know that sitting still is not her strength. My previous paintings used thicker black outlining and were not meant to be beautiful, but this was a special painting. I used much thinner, more refined lines and added extra emphasis to the highlights and shadows to really capture the look she was giving me. I fell in love with the result and Beautiful Mundanity was born. And yes, my daughter approves of her painting.

"Artist's Daughter in the Studio"
Oil on wood
17"x15"
Signed
Framed