The Lightbearer (2018)

Light Bearer (2018)
Oil on Linen
21 x 16″

After making a Master Copy – imitation – the next step for my students is to apply the skills they have learned by copying, by making a painting of their own design in the style of the master – emulation. This exercise has a long tradition in art education, and was a crucial step for apprentices in the Renaissance.

This portrait of my daughter reflects the influence of Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat, whose masterwork ‘An Egyptian Peasant Woman and Her Child ‘ (1869–1870) I copied as a demonstration piece for my Oil Painting class in the Fall of 2017.