Image of the Week: Portrait of the Artist's Daughters

© Durga Yael Bernhard

I'm not a portrait artist.  If I had all the time in the world, I'd devote myself to this specialty.  Once upon a time before the use of cameras, portrait painting was a viable means of earning a living.  It takes a certain kind of skill to capture a likeness, and create vital skin tones.  Plus, one must render a flattering version of the subject – not always easy – while also portraying context and details of personal significance to the patron.  

I have the utmost respect for the genre, but capturing reality is simply not my path as an artist.  Nonetheless, I attempted this smallish portrait of my two daughters almost twenty years ago as a gift to their grandmother.  They were eleven months and eleven years old at the time.  Eve, the elder, adored her baby sister and was like second mom to her.  Little Sage thrived on her attention, and squealed with delight when her big sister got off the school bus.  

That phase of their relationship lasted for five years, until Eve left for early college at the age of 16.  Little Sage is now 19 years old, and towers over her short-statured older sister, who lives in the Pacific Northwest and works in the wilderness of North Cascade National Park, as well as tending farm animals.  Sage has just been promoted to supervisor of the busy café where she has worked since the age of 14.  I'm so proud of both my daughters!  

To create the painting, I worked from a photograph – not my preferred method, but if I take the photo myself for the purpose of a painting, it's okay.  Often there's simply no other choice, especially while traveling or working with a subject that doesn't hold still.  I had done several pet portraits with this method, and I liked the addition of the painted border.  I used gouache, a water-based paint that was my medium of choice for many years – but in hindsight, it was limiting.  Gouache can only be applied as one layer, with a second, partial texture applied on top at most.  If I could do this painting over, I'd use oils instead, as the viscous quality and ability to use layers makes for richer skin tones (think of Renoir's portraits, with their flushed complexions).   

As for capturing a likeness – well, I think I did a fairly decent job.  One must think in terms of the underlying bone structure, which is difficult with a baby.  With their oversized cheeks, tiny chin, and rosebud lips, babies have completely different facial proportions than children or adults.  Their bones are barely evident.

As I write these words, my beloved elder daughter is home for a brief visit, sleeping in the bedroom that was hers years ago.  It's so good to see my two daughters together again. The 11-year gap between them is quickly closing, as they now share stories of boyfriends and jobs, cars and travels. I get a great sense of satisfaction from their mutual affection, and I'm painfully aware of how often siblings do not get along.  I tried to teach my children to love each other.  Though a picture is worth a thousand words, it would take much more than this one to express how much my daughters mean to me – as well as my beloved son, who also gets along great with his sisters.  Maybe he'll sit for a portrait someday . . . we'll see.

A good week to all!

D Yael Bernhard
http://dyaelbernhard.com
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