Sabasa

"Maria Garcia Perez de Castro, after Goya," oil on gessoed hardboard, 24x18

As I've written in previous posts, copying master paintings has long been a practical way for painters to learn how those masters achieved their effects, particularly with oil paint. Of course copy practice with other media can be very helpful, too. But most of my copying has been oil masterworks, from Goya to Leyendecker to Rembrandt to Rockwell. Recently I unearthed a copy I made more than 20 years ago of a beautiful work by Francisco Goys. It is a portrait of Maria Garcia Perez de Castro, who was known to friends as Sabasa. Goya painted her in 1804, supposedly after he saw her while he was doing her uncle's portrait. Struck by her beauty, he asked permission to portray her as well. The actual portrait was very challenging, particularly, the shawl. If you click the link above you can compare the original to my copy.