I loved this selfie of my daughter on her recent vacation to San Diego. I was inspired by it to try something new. I’ve painted portraits as part of wall murals, but not so much on canvas. I thought I’d try my hand at fine art portrait painting since I had some time this week.

I liked how the light came from below to light up her face and hair and the relaxed look on her face. Yeah, I’m prejudiced- she’s adorable.

I played with the photo a bit to tweak the shadows and highlights, supersaturate the colors and used THAT as the basis for my painting. While painting, I pushed it a bit farther and kept the work loose. I think I captured her.

It’s small at 11 x 14, but I love it. Of course I do.