I love John Singer Sargent and his teacher Carolus-Duran. I still consider the 19th century to be the pinnacle of painting and their direct method of oil painting is brilliant to behold. If Sargent realized he had erred in his process of modeling a figure he would scrape it down and begin again. 

Sargent's double portrait of Edouard and Marie-Louise Pailleron children is one of my favorites. I used their pose as the model for my portrait of a brother and sister. In Sargent's work the children sit upon an abstract rug or throw draped upon what is probably a studio bench. I, instead, used the cover of the British version of J.K. Rowling's book "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" created by Giles Greenfield. Since Sargent was an American who finally found artistic success in London I find it fitting to use a British book cover for a portrait of two American children.

My models for this work were brother and sister Khaled and Amani, who were students of mine one year apart. I knew Khaled the best and he was one of the nicest hardworking young men I had ever met. I know that the children in Sargent’s portrait were several years apart but Amani was diminutive enough to mimic his composition, size wise.

Oil on Canvas 30" x 40"