I can't sew

Well, I can sew on a button and I have used a sewing machine once for a project a long time ago. But, the idea of making a dress or even hemming one, is daunting.

However, I can alter clothing from my model. 

 

 The first item to change on this dress were the sleeves. My model's dress had short sleeves and sleeveless is the common style among Maasai women. A cloak/blanket would be worn over the dress for warmth.

 

 The second thing to change were the wrinkles. My model was standing with her right hip forward (left as we are looking at the painting.) Her hip was more prominent and fabric folds were across her hips. I "moved" her right hip in and added more dress to her left side. The fabric folds are more modest.

 

The dress had swirls of beads in places but this distracted from the beads flowing down from the neck collar. I "removed" those beads.

 

Lastly, I painted the fabric to have more of a thick cotton look.

 

 

 

At this point I've started on the beading. I knew there was more work to do on her face but wanted to wait until all the beading was done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red!

 

With a sepia-toned background and muted colors in the basket and fruit, the red dress will stand out.

Here come the colors!

 

 

 

A tisket, a tasket, what's in the basket?

 

I didn't want an empty basket so it was time to choose something. Fruit seemed to be a good choice but which one?

My first thought was baobab fruit, an African superfruit. Though I have seen lots of baobab trees I do not have a good reference for its fruit.

But, I do have good photos of sausage trees I saw and could use its fruit. With a little bit of research I find that once roasted the sausage tree fruit is good to eat but in its raw form it is toxic to humans. I scratched that idea as I didn't want her holding a basket of poisonous fruit! 

What about mangoes? I've had some delicious mangoes in Kenya. But, when were mango trees introduced to Kenya? If it was in the 1960s or so, I'd be adding a modern element which I didn't want. Once again, research. Mango trees are presumed to have been introduced to Kenya in the 10th century. Great, ancient enough for me.

 

Now, to get some reference of mangoes. (My favorite dried mangoes from Trader Joe's would not work.) I headed to the grocery store for mangoes. Kenya has six popular mango varieties and I could turn any of my local variety in to one of them.

 

So many decisions go in to a painting. It is details, like what to put in a basket, which make trying new things interesting. 

 

 

 

 

 

Hands and Basket

 

My model has beautiful hands. When she was at my house for the photo shoot, her nails were perfectly "dressed" with a bright red nail polish. It looked wonderful on her but was not the natural vision I had for the painting. Using artistic license, I "removed" the nail polish and in a future post you will see what I came up with for her nails.

 

 

 When I was thinking of the painting I had the idea of her holding a basket. I have a number of baskets but none were authentically Kenyan. So, I ordered one. Wanting something simple, I thought this one had just enough interest but did not draw attention away from the rest of the painting.

 

 

 

 

 

More

For the highlights on her hair I used ultramarine blue and King's blue mixed with titanium white.

 

 

 The dress my model wore had short sleeves. For a more traditional Maasai look I painted her without the sleeves.

 

 

Kenyan native

My model has wonderfully warm and welcoming eyes. None of that is captured with a camera. It takes time together to see the person within.

 

 

This is just the start of the face. I worked on it throughout the painting of the piece.

 

Happy New Year!

 Wishing you the best for 2026!

 

 

As an artist I try to "stretch my brushes" by trying new techniques, colors, designs, subjects, and stories. My last painting of 2025 utilized all of these and is one of my most ambitious paintings to date. 

 

My African paintings almost exclusively feature the wildlife of this continent. But, the people of Africa are an essential part of the story. A dear friend of mine from Kenya was eager to model for this piece.

 

First I wanted to come up with a unique way to tell the story. As I tossed and turned in bed to figure out a way to frame the story it came to me. Make the background all sepia toned. It would have a timeless feeling and my model would stand out. 

 

After that decision, all I had to get was reference photos of my model. She and her fiance came up to the house for dinner. She wore just what I needed for the vision for my painting. I took some 470 reference photos outside in late afternoon light and I had the basis for the piece. I would be making changes such as removing the short sleeves of the dress, removing fingernail polish and make-up, changing the bead color in places, changing the leg stance, and other details.

 

Once I got to this point in the painting I realized the sky was more gray than I wanted for the sepia toned background. I really liked how the clouds came out so decided to continue with the painting and pull the whole sepia feeling together in the background once the painting was dry.