"Green Lantern Fan" Portrait Study by Diana Moses Botkin

Original oil
14"x11"
©2011 Diana Moses Botkin

One evening during the Scotchman Peaks Paint Out last month, fellow artist Jared Shear sat while I did an oil sketch. Several of us painters had gathered by the fireplace where we were staying to chat about the paint out, life, and art in general.

Jared mentioned that John Singer Sargent liked his subjects to talk while they posed, which seemed odd to me. Perhaps that explains Sargent's quote? “A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth.”

It took me about 20 minutes to get the basics down on canvas, but after painting most of the day outdoors, sitter and artist both were tired.

So I snapped a couple of photos in case I had time later to add more to the study. The light, barely enough for an old gal like me to paint by, was not great for taking photos either, which turned out a bit blurry. But there was enough of a reminder of details to define features and form a little more. However, it's still more of a sketch than a finished piece.

The photo at left, taken the next day, was snapped by Sandy Compton, Program Coordinator for Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness.

Sandy was also quite a good friend of the artists during the paint out when he brought us meals to keep us all from being starving artists.