#47 03/04/19 Baby Pryor

Pryor is my nephew, he belongs to my brother Doug and his wife Wendy.  He's in high school now, but I found this picture of him while digging for pictures of Bev (for the fabulous power-point of pics that Dave put together for her 'celebration of life' ceremony yesterday).  Obviously this photo is from one of our family beach trips - always a great time.  Pryor was the chubbiest of babies!  When I saw all that baby-fat, I knew I had to paint it - even though painting human beings is daunting!  It came together pretty quickly, and then I showed it to Dave and Joe, who thought it was "pretty good" - but then Dave added, "Why is he crying?"  Crap, he is squinting into the sun, a happy little toddler expression.  So then I spent 2 hours trying in vain to get him to look happier.  Finally, I had to call it quits and go to bed.  When I looked at it the next day, really really looked at it, the only thing I found to add was a bit of shadow on his chin. Today, I feel like I should add another little fat fold under his eye.  Tomorrow, I might decide to cover it with gesso.  So, I'm going to stop looking at it.  Perhaps it is best to paint strangers.