Narrative Portrait

Daily Prompt: "Are you a night owl or an early bird? 
When do you do your best work?" Because the Night

I’m on a 12 week study break at the moment before starting my 2nd year undergrad studies in Fine Art & Visual Culture. This is the perfect time for me to catch-up on learning new skills that I don’t otherwise have time to do. Living in a small country town several hours from the big city, attending live art classes in Melbourne is a bit of a struggle. Fortunately I discovered Craftsy some time ago, Atelier-style online classes that suit me perfectly.

The first Craftsy class that I took during my break taught me how to paint a narrative portrait. Daylight is the ideal painting time for me as I don’t have to rely on artificial light sources. Now that it is summer in Australia I set my paints and easel up outside on the patio where I spend my days painting, usually starting early in the morning. On cooler days I do my art in my home-based studio.

In this painting the narrative is about a letter or document she is reading. Can you tell by her expression and body language what she is reading? Narrative portraiture tells a story, I wonder what you would imagine hers to be.

6 thoughts on “Narrative Portrait”

Well, it looks like she has taken the letter from a box of letters that she has saved, so it isn’t a new letter. I get the feeling she is either looking at a letter where someone she loved broke up with her or reading a love letter from someone who has died or left her. She has a wistful, sad look.on her face. The fact that she is in a rocking chair in a frozen, wrapped around herself position indicates to me a lack of otion…feeling stuck in life. Not being able to move beyond the sadness. The plants just coming into bloom on the windowsill give hope of new life and moving on, however. How did I do??

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