JESUS LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

     “Jesus Looking to the Future” is my first original painting of Mary and Jesus. The model for Mary is my niece, Elisabeth.  The model for Jesus is her daughter, Rachel Rose. I changed Rachel Rose’s straight light brown hair and painted it the curly dark hair of a Jewish baby boy. My original idea for the pose was to have Mary holding Jesus high up in the air over her head like she was playing with him. I could just imagine Mary doing this. But little Rachel’s legs would hang limp and it did not look like I imagined. I asked Elisabeth to just do whatever she felt comfortable as a mother with Rachel. So Elisabeth held Rachel in her arms and looked at her lovingly. Perfecto.  Mary is looking at Jesus with love and affection. The attention is on Jesus.  Jesus seems to be looking intently off to the distance. He is still a little baby but there seems to be some seriousness to Him. Thus, I named this portrait Jesus Looking to the Future.

     I painted Jesus at the Golden Mean so He would be the center of attention. I highlighted His face with the light shining on Him because He is the Light of the world.

     Jesus Looking to the Future is painted on un-tempered masonite board which I wrapped with fine Belgian linen and coated with five layers of Renaissance marble gesso. The back of the board is supported with oak strips. The under-painting is painted in verdaccio (grey-green ten value palette). The final painting is coated with a special oil medium. After it dried for one year it received five coats of damar varnish. This painting should last hundreds of years if treated with care and kept out of direct sunlight.