My Little Botticelli - Portrait of a little girl

When I saw this photo sent to me by her grandmother, I knew it might be a little tough because the angle was a little unusual for a portrait.  She was looking up at the camera. But I loved the way her hair chunked up and blew off to the side, it reminded me of Botticelli's Birth of Venus a little and I decided to give it a whirl.  And

I'm glad I did!  I wanted to keep her hair that way because I think it conveys the gleeful action expressed on her darling face.  The angle turned out to not be a problem when I opted for a pretty plain background and close crop.

I started out with a honey colored pastel paper, and used professional grade colored pencils...a mix of brands.  I like the harder prismacolors for the bottom layers and the softer ones to even things out.l  There wasn't much contrast in the photo, so I really had to search hard for the subtle shadowing and color transitions.

The size is approximately 7.5 inches square.  I like this size and this shape and think I'll offer it as a suggestion more often.  It's just large enough to show enough detail, yet would look awesome in a display with the same size of portraits of her siblings.  I hope you will feel free to comment!  Next up artwise is a portrait of a kitty lying, in all things, in a potful of peppermint...the herb type, not the candy type!  And I have some interesting dog things coming up as well.  Thanks for visiting!  Robin

I'm American Artist, Robin Zebley.  My site is HERE robinzebley.com, and is primarily of my pet portraits, but I'm adding children's portraits often (a high school hockey player is coming up soon!).  If you'd like to follow my blog, click on that button to your right.  To read my whole blog, click on the banner at the top.  Thanks for visiting and please feel free to contact me privately if you wish at robinzebleyartist@gmail.com.  Robin