Sarah

Sarah
Oil on Canvas


Sarah was a great model. This is the most finished of all the figurative paintings I made in France. I needed more time! Not only does it take time to paint the figure but I had to apply all the things I was learning. I spent forever trying to get the place where her arm joins her body (her armpit) just right. Who cares? I do! I loved one of the things my teacher Michelle told me. She said she spent time trying to perfect the areas of the body other artists don't pay attention to, like the armpit area. In this pose, you really don't see it, only where her arm joins her breast area, and yet it is tough to get it just right. 


I had the most fun working on her breast and stomach. I mixed colors I had never made before and I liked them! I have been tempted to work a little more on this painting, to "finish it". And yet, with the model gone, I am likely only to mess up what I've done. Like the feet I painted ("Exposed"), there were many lessons learned in this painting and looking at it helps me remember. Better to leave it alone lest I forget.