Irene Sleeping

This is a picture of my 16-month old daughter Irene asleep (at last!). I've captured something of her but it's not quite a good a likeness as I'd like it to be. Still, there is something very satisfying about drawing children, especially your own. Maybe it's just having the opportunity to stare at them and appreciate how beautiful they are.

I drew her by lamplight and I wish I'd been able to do a better job of capturing the shadows on her face. Also, I think the picture would have had a bit more depth if I'd made an effort to draw in the mattress and blanket behind her head but I was lazy and concentrating on her face which I found much more interesting. I cropped the picture to include the title/date as I rather like the extra negative space that's included. I think it's more interesting than it would be if I'd cropped it right around her face.