It was early spring, one of those unexpected warm days in April when snow is still on the ground, but the sun gives a pleasant surprise by heating up the air to the degree when we start peeling off our jackets and sweaters while we enjoy a walk in the park. It’s one of those moments is very memorable for me – my 5 year old son was in love for the first time in his life. The source of his affection? A a little cutie by the name of Alissa, very smart, beautiful and also demanding despite the fact she was almost a year younger than him. My son was quickly caught in her charms and became her puppy. At daycare he would help her wash her hands, play with her and do whatever she asked.
The passion between these two little souls at the age when one of them was still using sippy cup, was beautifully caught in a photo on my phone.
I thought this scene would look very nice on canvas. I decided to paint the image for the little girl’s mom, what with her birthday coming up. My time was tight; I had only two weeks which should include the print on canvas service, in order make a copy of original artwork. I wanted to keep the original for myself as all my works usually goes to other people.

The funny part of the story was telling my son that I was going to make a portrait of him and the girl. He’s almost 10 now and likes to ignore the fact that he had this passion almost 5 years ago. He didn’t like the fact that I was going to use his photo without his permission. I had to promise him a reward telling that I will sell a print of the painting on Amazon and the profit will be all his. He seemed satisfied. But that immediately created resentment in my little one, who is two years younger, but knows very well the value of money. He threw a fit that he wanted to be in the painting too. Well, I guess I know what my next work will be.

As for the process of my drawing, I must confess I’ve never painted so fast and easily like I did this time. Everything was falling right into place with right sense of proportions. I hardly used an eraser doing the sketch and then in sessions I rendered piece by piece parts of the painting. I used my senses more than I used my brains to be able to grasp the relationship between every element. I changed the colour of a shirt and the background a little bit, I also simplified the girl’s shirt. Now I understand why highly professional artists recommend planning clothes specifically for sittings for portraits so then they don’t need to spend hours and hours on some crazy patterns. Something I will keep in mind for future. As for the folds of the jeans they were a challenge for me when I first began to map the folds, but the more colours I added the more readable the shape of the folds formed. I really enjoyed doing it. I think they turned out not so bad and have inspired me to try painting some Renaissance skirts and dresses.
When I gave me present to my friend she liked it very much. She said “Thank you for such a great work! The picture looks endearing!” I am happy she liked it and it made me laugh when she told me later that she and her husband keep stealing the painting from each other’s offices in the house.

Everyone liked it.