Oil Painting #1 Self-Portrait as a Child

 Jessica Lane 

Little Princess, 2023

Oil on Canvas

20”X24”

Painting I, Instructor Luckett , Fall 2023

Never having painted in oil paints, always acrylics or watercolor, it was a unique experience for me.  We were to paint a person and include elements of their personality.  I chose to paint myself as a child.  I included a fluffy tutu skirt, a polka-dotted shirt with a rounded collar, and a beautiful golden crown atop my head.  We grew up poor and I never had things like ballet lessons or princess costumes so I had to make my own out of things I found around the house.  For example, I made angel wings out of toilet paper and flew through the sky on my wings.  I had an inner princess who wanted all of those things.  I had to learn to live with my homemade versions.  My influences were Yoshi Tomo Nara, a Japanese artist, because of his flat, stylized figures, and Melissa Haslam, an Australian artist, because of her beautiful, ethereal figures and fairytale-like scenes.  I originally learned to paint this style from English Mixed Media painter Tamara LaPorte.  I chose a warm color palette for the figure against a cool blue background to make her stand out.  She is in a shy pose because her hands are hiding behind her skirt.  She is curious because her head is slightly tilted.  She is placed front and center in the picture frame because she is the most important element in this piece.  Here, you can see my progress from end to beginning.  The difference between acrylics and oils is that I tend to over-blend with oils because, I think, that is why people like oils so much.  But I like to layer and you have to let it set for a little while before you can add more color.  In the end, it is what it is.  I like her.  She is me.