Miriam in Her Gray Beret

From my January 16, 2012 blog entry:

In January, for the first day of my portrait class -- demo day -- I had the great opportunity to paint the almost-nine year old Miriam. Miriam was excited about her first real paying job. I was perhaps more excited about painting her. Or, maybe it was a toss up.

This is an alla prima, painted all in one sitting, portrait -- worked wet into wet. Painting in this method offers spontaneity, or freshness to the work. Perfect for capturing an almost nine-year-old.

Miriam sat super still and I imagine that there were some awfully long stretches between breaks ... because it was too much fun painting her to also keep track of the time. Her snacks came in a cute pink lunch bag. One snack was a waffle -- and her mom remarked  ...  "Well, she was born in Belgium."