7" x 6" Oil and Acrylic on board
It has been a while since I have painted portraits of people; but when my mother-in-law's father died at the incredible age of 101, I decided I wanted to paint a portrait of the two of them to give to her. All I had to base it on were a few pictures of a Thanksgiving dinner we had a few years back. I chose one, modified it some, and set out to paint this tiny portrait.
Just as I do when painting pet portraits, I thought I would have to confront the anxiety about "getting it right" that always befalls me when starting a portrait (pet or not). But as I set out to paint this, the usual doubts did not surface. Laying down the paint and forgetting about matching everything to the photograph came easy to me.
As I got the paint down in one wet-on-wet go, I kept wondering if I should later go in and add layers of transparent glazes to the faces; but I liked what I had, and remembered how my father used to like my work better when it was "raw" than when I "finished" it. Being unable to control myself, I did add a few bits of glaze here and there, but made myself stop before I changed the character of what I had captured initially and liked as was.
I totally understand the need that Giacometti had of revising and re-revising his portraits until he had all but obliterated his imagery; and one day I will have to give in to that part of my instincts and see what happens. For the time being, I leave this one as it is and hope my mother-in-law likes it too.
