Today I decided that my farmer needed a wife, so I went looking for the quintessential woman for the job. I eventually decided on this one partly for the faraway look in her eyes that are used to looking out across fields, and partly because she has a sun bonnet like Grandmother Allie used to wear. Also like Allie, she has on one of those house dresses washed so many times that the flower pattern has faded to a vague white figure, and an apron with capacious pockets (not included here) to carry around such things as shears or rose pruners or a small trowel—whatever is needed for the job at hand.
I called this "partners" rather than spouses because farmers, male and female, are by necessity closer partners in their work than most urban or suburban couples, given that they both depend on the same thing for their livelihood. Although they may have tasks traditionally defined by gender, both are usually capable of doing any of their partner's tasks interchangeably, from hoeing a field to driving a tractor to milking a cow to cooking a pot of black-eyed peas.
This one was harder to paint than was her male counterpart. It seemed obvious that his face would be weathered and colored by the weather, but she with her bonnet would be paler and more protected, so the colors are softer and less defined. She also should have had a heavier shadow on the top half of her face from the shielding bonnet, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it! I tried to repeat enough of the colors I used on him, albeit in diluted form, so that the two portraits could be hung together. I think it worked...?
Pencil, Daler Rowney acrylic FW inks, watercolor, black Uniball Vision pen, white gel pen, on 140-lb. Fluid watercolor paper, 9x12 inches.
