RP’s are also open to commissions of children…
“Children and wonderful, open subjects for portraiture. They lend their clarity and openness to the painted portrait. As a painter of anyone it is important to establish an easy rapport, and with kids this is often arrived at differently than with adults. They can’t be expected to sit as an adult might, and for the invention of the iPad I am extremely grateful in this regard. In order to know the intimate character of a child sitter I ask the parents to play an active role in the development of the portrait, to provide nuance as the portrait progresses. The process is quite a collaborative one.”
-Frances Bell
Frances Bell, ‘Young boy’
“I find children fascinating to paint, their gaze tends to be open and unguarded and one senses their inner world laid bare, accessible, in a way that is often hard to reach in adults. I am particularly interested in children’s relationship with the world around them, their often intense attachment and love of objects and toys, which become sacred to them, imbued with a kind of animism.
These qualities lend themselves very well to allegory, which I really like to explore in my portraits, I often include objects and still life elements in my works as I find they can be charged with meaning and symbolism.
In my experience children lend themselves very well to sittings, especially if I engage them with the ideas that may come up whilst exploring different poses. They will obviously not sit very long so I do take a lot of photographic material to capture all the information I might need.
All sittings are unique, precisely because all sitters are, children are no exception. I love adapting to different situations and individuals and sensing what might work. It is sometimes good to engage the parents in the sitting, although that is not always necessary, as some children love the intensity and attention of the sitting session.”
-Miriam Escofet
Miriam Escofet, ‘Elara’