Young Woman Glowing Smile

Young woman pen ink sm
Young Woman, pen and ink

This young woman’s radiant smile comes from within. I sought to express it. In previous epochs a smile was impossible to capture as sitters can not smile for hours at a time. Look at Leonardo’s famous smile- captivating but hardly expansive. But with photography, art changed in many ways and the ability to study the smile is one such change.

This is a study for a painting.

Half Timber Buildings, Compiègne, France

tudor street compeigne
Half Timber Buildings in Compiègne , France

These buildings typically date from the 1400’s. They are best referred to as Tudor style structures. They developed in Tudor England beteen around 1485 and 1600. Often they lean to one side or the other these days, yet appear to be stable. This is one of the many charming views you can find in Compiegne.

Messing around with watercolors– Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni, 1621

Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni, 1621
Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni, 1601 Watercolor

I painted this using Leoni’s portrait of Carravaggio. He was 31 at the time. He died 9 years later, a victim of his propensity for violence. Her revolutionized painting with his observation of the subject together with a dramatic use of chiaroscuro, intense contrasts of light and dark. This came to be known as tenebrism, where the darks are a dominant feature of the piece. 

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