Daily Painting Portrait, "Ella at Three"

"Ella at Three"
16X12
Oil on Linen Panel

Click to enlarge the picture.

At last. The morning was taken by going over the background entirely in order to dull it down some and give the whole painting more depth. I think, if I look back, this painting has taken me the better part of six weeks. More than I anticipated, but not having done a portrait in oil prior to this, I guess I really didn't know what to expect.

Just to add to the story a bit...the chair is a family heirloom. It is part of a set of six curly maple chairs that were in my mother's family, three generations back from her life. They were among some of her favorite possessions and I am privileged to be the keeper of them now, before passing them along to the next generation. It's kind of fun to commemorate them in this painting along with the adorable grandchild that my mother didn't get to see. Hopefully, I have connected the chain of our family while painting this.

Local guild shows are coming up fast, so I'll be working toward those for the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned!