Doña in Blue (Garcia)

by Godfrey J. Ellis – 14×18 Acrylic 2020

This one is painting of Doña Garcia, Don Garcia’s wife.  He was the one for whom I painted a portrait to support him (see “The Bandanna”) and who had commissioned me to paint another of him as a 17-year old boy (see “Muy Guyapo”).  He then commissioned me to paint his wife as a Christmas present \. The reference photo he gave me was blurry, but I found an app that enhanced old photos.  Also, her sweater was as dark brown as her hair, so that wouldn’t fly.  Plus, the composition in the photo was quite ordinary with her just looking at the camera. I went to the restaurant and got Don’s permission to paint it in blue. You can see those problems in the reference photo below.

I tried to ask for them to send me a photo of them holding the painting but the language barrier made that difficult. So I did a little “Photoshop” work and made the following photo.

Below are three photos of the painting as it emerged.