16 February 2008

the next stage



This painting will go to a family where, despite mixed ethnicity, things are more traditional, everything in the house is antique Italian. Backgrounds become a problem when I think like that, but in this case I think I must. Looking at it on the screen, which is quite different from living with the painting, and thinking of this, I wonder if I should turn his collar down. But he is only just 8, after all. He was playing when I snapped the photograph. But the collar distracts... mmm... I think I'll paint the rest of his jacket then decide...

It is a gift for the child's first Communion, not a commission. When he was still only four he tried to teach me Italian numbers. Now I try to teach him English. It is for my own satisfaction, as much as for the child, that I need to get it right. I have plenty of time.

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