Between my posts on Twitter & my Facebook status, I know I’ve alluded to the stolen Snow White painting, but I don’t think I’ve actually told the full story before. Here goes! A few months ago one of my (super sweet) clients bought the original Fairest of Them All painting, my version of Snow White. Shameless self-promotion sidebar: prints are still available here.
The painting was intended as a Christmas gift for my client’s sister. I delivered it. She had it all wrapped up & ready to go. Then I got an email from her while I was still out of town for our family xmas – her car had been broken into & the painting was stolen! We’ve had our house broken into before (& a couple of attempts on our car too), so I know how horrible it feels. Fortunately all of our stolen items were of the electronic, easily pawnable variety, so there was no sentimental attachment. My client, on the other hand, buys almost exclusively handmade, one of a kind items. This is a huge part of why I like her so much & a huge part of why the story sucks so much. On top of the fact that the items stolen were very difficult to replace, you’ve got the horrible timing of having ALL of your xmas presents stolen right before xmas. Brutal!
I, of course, agreed to attempt a do-over & set out to repaint the original Snow White. That turned out to be a lot more difficult than I expected. I had images of the original to work from, but a scan is not the same as looking at all the layering & texture involved. Plus my monitor color is surely different from the paint I see in front of me, lit by the yellowish cast of indoor tungsten lighting. Did I mention I want a studio space with better lighting? I do. At any rate, here’s the new gal:
Ultimately I’m happy with the way Snow White Part 2 turned out. It was an interesting challenge. The new version is definitely different & had I not been trying to recreate an older painting, I don’t think I would’ve noticed just how much my style has changed over the last few months. Painting the creepy girls was a huge departure, sure, but I’ve also had some other cuter girls since then. Clearly the cartoony, big-eyed look is my style, whether I like it or not. And I *do* like it. Absolutely. I think I like the second Snow White better than the first, actually. (The mister agrees too).
The bee in my bonnet is the way my painting style feels so difficult to change, like trying to write with a different handwriting. I hear talk so often in art forums about the importance of finding your own style. What do they mean by this? How do you paint using a style that’s NOT your own without directly trying to copy another painting (which, apparently, STILL wouldn’t work without some of your own style shining through)? Maybe I’m missing something, but my style seems to have found me. Whether I’m trying to paint smaller eyes or changing up my handwriting by dotting my i’s with little hearts (blech, btw), it all looks like mine. Like me.
And that’s pretty cool.
Have a good weekend everybody! I’ve got 2 new paintings to finish touching up & then I’ll be scanning & posting ‘em. One is a toned down portrait inspired by Audrey Hepburn & the other is a reeeeeeeeedickulously big eyed rabbit head girl. She’s my new favorite. 
