Marie-Thérèse Leaning on One Elbow

This is my attempt at copying a well-known Pablo Picasso portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter, a teenager he had an adulteress affair with starting in 1927. She was 17 at the time while Picasso was married and 46. The painting was completed in 1939 when she was 29 so they did have a long relationship, but still... 

G Bauer Copy of Picasso

Here is Picasso's version of the portrait. (Note on the colors: I just grabbed this photo of the web which has much more vivid colors than the version I used which is in a book. I am guessing the web version is closer to the actual painting.)

Pablo Picasso portrait Marie-Thérèse Walter

Working with the colors, shapes and edges is a learning experience. Picasso was able to achieve some interesting textures with his paint compared to what I was able to do. I will have to do some research to understand how he achieved an almost cement like effect on some of the surface. I'm sure that was partly achieved by letting the painting dry a bit and then going back to work in fresh paint. It also be attributed to the types of oil paint he was using at the time which may have included lead or other materials we no longer use. One thing he did extremely well is to put down the paint and leave it alone. I tend to overwork things which smooths out the texture. I am working to avoid this, but it's a hard habit to break. My painting has much less texture. 

In the coming months I would like to create a copy of Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. This is a painting I saw years ago at the MOMA. It's impressive at 96 in × 92 in. Huge! 

I think I would have to cut that down to 48 x 48 inches using an off the shelf canvas. Or, thinking as I write, I could use this as an opportunity to build a canvas that is exactly half the size of Picasso's at 48 by 46 inches. That would be an interesting experience. Or I could even go to a version that is 2/3 the size of the original at 64 x 61.3 inches. So much to think about. 

Keep working!