First Born©KathyCousart

36 x 30 Oil on Linen

SarahKate and Hagen©KathyCousart

Hagen©KathyCousart

14 x 11 Oil on Linen

Hagen©KathyCousart

So very special to paint my first born, Sarah Kate,holding her first born, Hagen. I wanted to capture that moment between mother and child and keep it very loose. I learned a ton painting this as I always do with each painting. I don’t paint many figures/portraits and especially not this big. I love how this turned out and teared up when mentor Jim Richards helped better define the outline of her face with one brushmark. All of a sudden it was my daughter. I was always taught that we are recognized by face shape first. How about that!

I had been wanting to paint a smaller painting of just Hagen’s face and the minute I saw this one with that sweet smirky smile- I knew it was the one! I had sketched it a few times and talked with Jim about placement. We also talked about not just sketching it out in detail but painting all the light and shadow shapes. I knew I could handle that part as I love painting light and shadow. I can tell how refined my “seeing” has gotten as I saw all these sweet little pops of color in that little face! I actually painted a study first that I was pretty darn proud of and Jim told me to stop and keep that one. Started this second one and it is my favorite painting ever. Could be the subject matter:) I learned a ton and always am thankful to be in a mentoring program with Jim Richards- I am lucky and I appreciate that I can try to paint anything and he’s right there with me! Can’t wait to try some more faces- this was too fun!!