Portrait of a Seven Year Old

I forget the name of this child. He is a friend's grandson and she asked me to do the painting for Christmas so she could give it to her husband. He has an adorable dimple in his chin and the pose is unusual.The reference photo was a poor quality cell phone picture but somehow I managed to make it work. I used an image editor to increase the contrast so I could see the form better. She told me what she liked about the photo was the ratty cowboy hat and the fact that he was sitting still--unusual for this child according to her.

Sgt. Joe Lilly, Posthumous Portrait

This is the final version of one of the portraits we'll present at the Gold Star Ceremony, October 7th, followed by his obituary. I am so tired of this undeclared war and the deaths of these young men and women. When will it be over?

 

Army Sgt. Joseph M. Lilly, 25, of Flint, Mich., died June 14, 2012, in Panjway, Afghanistan, of wounds caused by an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. 

A combat engineer from Flint who died two days after being wounded in an insurgent attack in Afghanistan believed so strongly in the Army’s mission that he volunteered to serve his latest tour there, his aunt said June 18. “This is what he loved. He loved being a U.S. Army soldier,” Martha Alexander said of her nephew, Sgt. Joseph Lilly. The 25-year-old was injured June 12 by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province and died two days later, the Pentagon said. Another member of his unit from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Spc. Trevor Pinnick, 20, of Lawrenceville, Ill., also was killed.

Alexander — the sister of Lilly’s mother, who died 13 years ago — recalled a recent conversation the two shared via Skype. In it, Lilly told his aunt, “I’m going to sound weird, but I enjoy it.” Alexander responded: “Not everybody gets to do what they wanted to do. You’re very lucky.”  Lilly was hit by a sniper’s bullet only weeks before his death, resulting in a wound on his chin that required a few stitches, Alexander said. “He was just upset that he was sidelined,” she said.

Lilly was a 2005 Carman-Ainsworth High School graduate, where he was active in stage crew. As a soldier, he also served in Iraq and in South Korea. He is survived by wife Katrina and their son Alexander, 3. Michael Lilly, 55, said he was proud of his son’s choice to fight for his country and said his son’s ideals have much to teach. “Joe knew what the consequence was,” the elder Lilly told Mlive.com. “It was worth it to him because he believed in what he was doing. He was trying to keep us free out of the clutches of terrorism. He accepted the risk. That right there is someone who has a lot of guts.”
 

Pretty Little Girls: Childrens Portraits

Their mom commissioned me to paint a "fun" painting of each of them for their grandmother's birthday. I wanted the paintings to look nice hanging beside each other but also apart. The colorful quilt-like background ties the portraits together and also emphasizes their youth. Children's portraits always take longer for me to do than an adult portrait. Their skin is so delicate and their hair is so fine it's just hard to translate into paint.

11" x 14"

oil on canvas