Capturing the elusive likeness

Some days things just come together and you actually pull off what you set out to do. I haven't painted for a couple of days and was feeling rusty this morning as I searched through my archive of saved reference photos for someone to paint. I have been a bit out of sorts the past week or so, and haven't been doing much, truth be told, besides binging Netflix and taking care of a few tasks for my upcoming teaching stint at UCLA. Oh, and I shipped out three portraits, all of which sold on Etsy this week after nearly nine months of no sales, so that was massively cheering.

Anyway, after exercise and breakfast, I decided today was a good day to paint, but I couldn't settle on who or how. Watercolor? Acrylics? Size? Face only or go for a scene? Then I remembered that I had asked friend Kirsti to ferret out some photos for me of my cousin Kirsten, a truly elusive subject when it comes to digital records. I myself have precious few photos of her, and most date back to childhood or early 20s. But people around Kirsti seem to get their picture taken rather frequently, so I knew she'd have at least a few (even though she is strictly forbidden to post them on social media by said cousin), and sure enough, she came through for me.

I started this portrait in some doubt that I could catch an accurate likeness: Kirsten has distinctive features, but typically remains completely unadorned by eye makeup, jewelry, and fancy hairstyles, all the accoutrements that allow one to fudge a likeness by accentuating them, so I was nervous. But as I said earlier, some days serendipity is in your favor, and two and a half hours later, I had a portrait I felt confident anyone could recognize. The nose is a tiny bit more delicate than in reality (that happens to me a lot in acrylic), but is faithful as to shape. I also had big fun using one of my abstract backgrounds and incorporating all the background colors into the image itself.

I hope Kirsten agrees that I "caught" her, and also doesn't mind that she will be plastered all over social media today, because we artists are an egotistical pack and want to get all the acknowledgment from our public that we can, given that we do all our labor in splendid isolation!

"Kirsten"—pencil, acrylic paints, stencil, and a tiny bit of brown Stabilo on Fluid 140-lb. coldpress watercolor paper, 9x12 inches.