Between the Distance (Portrait of Eva) oil on linen, 12 x 10" (30 x 25 cm)

My 8-year-old stepdaughter Eva posed for this portrait in front of the north light window in our house in Santa Cruz. I wanted to capture the journey of our relationship in her face; I feel that our story is clearly written there.

This painting reveals a preliminary stage of my painting process in that the shadow mass is left untouched as the early imprimatura layer made from transparent, washy earth pigments. Subsequently, the light mass is then built up using applications of lead white, which are then followed by layers of semitransparent/semi-opaque full color.