Twins (2006)

Oil on canvas (15" x 20")

This is a portrait of twin daughters of a friend and work colleague.
I started with a very detailed sketch on the canvas obtained by
transferring straight from an enlarged photograph using brown pastel
chalk. The time that I spent on the sketch really paid off, and
this painting was finished in about 16 hours all told (not in a row!).

I especially like the folds of the clothing and the hand at the left
which is not rendered in great detail but just suggested by a few
small forms of light and dark.

Scarlett (2006)

Charcoal on toned paper (8.5" x 11")

I have wanted to try a portrait with charcoal for a while now,
and since I had some free time and some work politics I would
rather not think about, I decided to give it a shot.

Scarlett Johansson is a beautiful woman but not in
the conventional way. There is no mistaking her for the parade
of bleached blonde clones that front most of the mediocre Hollywood
and television fare these days. So, I thought it would be
interesting to try and capture that beauty and that uniqueness in
charcoal. The blue paper just seemed appropriate, I don't know why,
but I am quite happy with the results.