Kaela's Commission

On seeing my portrait of Louie a few years ago, my friend Kaela asked me to paint an angel, South American style. I was horrified at the result. Kaela, because she is a kind person, even though I despised it, and my husband said it looked too much like me (I had used a wedding picture as a guide), indicated she desired the painting anyway. I refused to give it to her, and, fortunately, after a year in my damp basement, it grew mold and was destroyed.

After I painted "Masai Warrior" and Hank last year, I thought I'd give Kaela's request another go. She sent me an Edward Curtis photo (below), which I decided to use as a guide. I wholeheartedly attempted not to copy the image exactly, for the image itself is itself art. Furthermore, I wouldn't want to become another Shepherd Fairy and be accused of plagiarism! In my opinion there is nothing worse than a copied design-very amateurish! Finding inspiration in another artist's work is completely acceptable, but image reproduction is detestable!
       In my attempt to be original, I completely failed.  I feel my rendition is far too similar to the Edward Curtis photograph.  Perhaps this was a result of the fact that I was still too green to produce anything more unique.  The only aspects that are my own are the young girl's eyes and the color added. Kaela thinks the Native American girl's eyes resemble the eye's of her daughter. I tend to agree, but it was unintentional. The color was extremely difficult for me to determine, and I probably will not work from a black and white photograph again until I become more competent.

           It was a great experience, and I am glad Kaela was pleased with the result.

Below you can enjoy one of my favorite photographs of Kaela's:

In the original photograph, the bee is much more detailed, and the purple appears much deeper.  Again, I am still trying to figure out how images work on this blog.