When I participated in the 1st Saturday event in October, I set up my stuff and painted at the local garden center. This little girl arrived with her mama, not for the art, but to look at plants. I was simply captivated by her chubby cheeks under the big sun-bonnet and asked mama if I could take a couple of pics with my phone. I always wonder if I'll be suspected of being some kind of weirdo when I do that, but the mom was quite cheerful about my request.
None too surprisingly, my little model was shy. The actual photo has her looking down and more serious in expression & holding onto mom's pants. I did get to see a very sweet smile appear when I wasn't trying to get a photo. So, I decided to paint her looking up and holding some lavender. The painting started out bigger with a lavender field going on to the right, but after it was done, I wanted the emphasis to be simply on the child so I cut the painting down to this view.
This is done in watercolor on watercolor paper. I've been doing a bit of mixed media lately, but I wanted to keep the softness and watery look of pure watercolor for this one.
Wonder why I like so much to paint little kids when they are so hard to capture? Not enough shading gives a flat painting; too much and the child suddenly looks like a little old man/woman. I always did like a challenge.
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