"Irish Faith"

An original 18"x14" portrait painting, painted in oil on canvas

This is my first portrait painting completed in 2005. It was not my intention to go for a close likeness. I just wanted it to be close to a likeness of a person! I also wanted to be a little creative with it.
Glenn W Hill's gallery "The Rock" was still in Visalia California on Main Street at the time. He was advertising for local artists to come and paint a live model that he was scheduling to come in on Mondays. Each of us paid $35.00 towards the model's fee. I planned ahead and painted a textured looking background on the canvas before coming in. This was so exciting to me, I could see the vivid glowing colors in the shadows of her face. I pretty much completed her face in the two-hour session. I took photos and finished the rest at home. The model had blond hair; I gave her red hair and simplified her dress.