Scholastic Art Regional Gold Key 2021, Art Show International 3rd Portrait Honorable Mention

Bittersweetly, Eyes’ Glimmer of Joy exists in the portfolio as my first oil portrait. Depicting the joyful and sweet countenance of a seven year old William, it commemorates the passage of time and my growing journey as an artist. With this painting, I came to treasure the process of oil: the rough first layer of value study, the following application of color, and the final layers of details and refinement. I experimented with richness in color, texture, and lineweight through different brushes and increasingly recognized oil paint’s forgiving ability to be repainted over and correct mistakes, even if the layer was not dry.