This was inspired by a Hanbok fitting session by my apo (granddaughter) Angel with a Costume assistant during a family tour of South Korea (SK) last December 2024. My nephew Paulo & wife Donna, whose family of 4 kids reside in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, sent me copies of of their 2 week vacation photos thru my Instagram account. What drew me into the intimate scenery between 2 ladies, of different heritage, age, circumstances was the face of my Apo filled with insecurity and apprehension as reflected in the fitting room mirror while the costumer assistant (CA) who is much older, appeared sure and confident in her work. The Hanbok is the top portion of a native Korean woman's blouse made with dainty flimsy material with puffy sleeves, V neck line and with a ribbon sewn fitted to hug the breast. Native SK costumes are rented for US$7 for 1.5 hours of usage or souvenir photo session. This is the second painting of mine based on the Hanbok session. My last week painting was a closeup of Angel's face without background! My fellow artists favorably commented that I leave the face alone & paint the background to complement the 01.18.2025 Angel face!For this 01.25.2025, I felt the bamboo forest framed the ladies in the hanbok. The CA's hanbok was just the white of the watercolor paper. Happy Painting all!
I'm so glad you did this one. I like the composition of one head over the other and the expressions on the faces of the two ladies. And of course the bamboo.
ReplyDeleteIf I didn’t know your story, I might think this was a painting of a younger woman imagining her older self — or vice versa! Either way, it’s a lovely painting and I love how the bamboo follows their contours and envelops them.
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to see what you decide for a background on last week's portrait. I like this expanded version of the scene. Angel seems to look less tentative but it's still about her. I like the way the second person is less dominant but still important. The background really works well, especially the way you've bent the bamboo to look like mosaic embracing the women.
ReplyDeleteI like this but especially the mosaic treatment of the bamboo.
ReplyDeleteThis is quite lovely. And a unique double portrait where the images don't compete, but enhance each other. The bamboo imagery gently surrounds the imagery.
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