Monday 12 October 2009

Miniature of Mother as Queen Elizabeth I


Here is a miniature graphite on film study of my Mother as Queen Elizabeth I. The original sepia photo was taken around 1944 and sadly is very blurry. Mum had a lovely soprano voice and I remember being taken many times by my Father to see her on stage. I think if she had not devoted so much time to my upbringing she would have gone on to greater things.

Doing this as a miniature has been an ambition for some time and even though it was a difficult study I am reasonably happy with it and will frame it for our walls. (I know Mum would have been pleased to have this image of her drawn this way.) Size is 4" x 3.5" - Mum's face is around 1" and the image shows a 'ghost penny' for scale.

Miniatures are really addictive and once the larger paintings are done I will be devoting more time to them.

6 comments:

Wes and Rachelle Siegrist said...

Beautiful job Lesley! The softness of the finished image, enhanced by the film surface must really be lovely in person!

I'm sure Mum is delighted with the results of her time spent with you.

Anonymous said...

Lesly, very beautiful, your mom was beautiful. You are doing terrific with your little miniatures.

Lesley Ann Hartman said...

Thank you, Wes, Rachelle and Judy! So good to have other artists leave such kind and positive comments. This mini was a bit of a struggle but I am definitely addicted to miniature art now. :)

Kelley said...

Wow, I can't believe you fit so much precise detail into such a small drawing. Well done, she looks beautiful!

Lesley Ann Hartman said...

Thank you Kelley, I appreciate your comments especially as you work in pencil as well. Maybe you could try a miniature sometime, they are a lot of fun. :)

Tracy Hall said...

You are getting so good with the pencils in miniature lesley - this is really lovely of your mum! Would love to see it in person as well.