I was thinking about my friends and the qualities that each one possesses that I admire so much. I thought it might be fun to try to do portraits of each of them featuring the characteristic that defines them most in my mind.
It is always tricky to paint people you know because the task is daunting and fear-inspiring. First of all, you worry that the person you are painting won't like what you've painted. You worry about technical errors and that the person you paint will think you "see" them the way you have painted them, if errors there be. You worry about taking artistic liberties (changing certain features slightly, perhaps) etc. etc. And then there is the most serious fear: that you as the artist will fail. Then comes discouragement and all the rest.
In spite of all that, I think this turned out well. Are there things that could have been improved? Always. Did I learn a lot from painting this? Yes. Did it capture the vibrant spirit I love about my friend? I hope so, and that was really the goal.
So here is Martha, who is beautiful in the most vibrant and colorful way possible.
As always, click for bigger. Here it is without the frame.
And some close ups:
3 comments:
ME!?!?! It's me?!?! Holy crap. You even got the tattoo AND MARZIPAN. That's awesome. You're awesome. And it might be my profile picture soon... with your permission of course. I don't want to infringe on no copyrights. :)
(also, thanks for picking "vibrant" instead of other choice words that could describe me... :)
The tattoo, the piercing, Marzipan...SO AMAZING! ...and absolutely vibrant, both in personality (Martha) and in technique (Rachel).
PS - Can't we all just be together now? We did one semester apart...time to reunite?? ;)
LOVE... the attention to detail, the eyes, everything. When I saw it as Martha's profile pic, my first reaction was where did she FIND such a painting that resembled her so! :) RACHEL MADE IT! Oh 602, I love you.
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