This is the latest painting I finished. I pushed it get it done earlier so that I could submit it along with the painting of Roxanne's with her face painted to the candle art show- I participated in the candle art show last year too, and it was really fun because all of the artwork that is displayed is also reprinted onto glass religious candles. I didn't intend for him to look sad in the picture. I just didn't want another obnoxious show off face- I thought a candid, vulnerable expression was more endearing and contrasted the personality the paint on his face seems to imply.
I've been hooked on listening to "This American Life" episodes while I paint. It's a free podcast and through my iphone, I can select to listen to any episode ever by browsing through the topics list. My favorite episodes so far are "20 acts in 60 minutes", "Fear of Sleep", "Pray", and particularly "Testosterone" which I, coincidentally listened to while painting this picture. The show revealed how testosterone effects the core of who people are by interviewing someone who suddenly lost all testosterone and a separate someone who suddenly tripled their testosterone. They were super interesting stories, and I couldn't help but nod my head as I painted and thought of how accurately they described the symptoms of boyness and how precisely Rocket embodies those traits. He's competitive, arrogant, obnoxious, ambitious, and loud. But every now and then I am able to see into the crevice of a tiny crack in the facade of testosterone, and within that tiny gap, I see a glimmer of vulnerability and tenderness that I really don't think anyone but me, as his mother, is able to see. I wanted to capture that part of him. As the radio program continued, I learned that as time goes on and he gets older, even I will probably lose the privilege of seeing that. That sort of makes me sad, but I think I will always know that even if he doesn't let me see it anymore, it's still there.
As far as the face painting goes, everything on his face was his own idea. He said he wanted to make himself into a "half woman half man". So the mustache, beard and bowtie are the man aspects. The lipstick, eyelashes and eyeshadow are the woman aspects. He thought this idea was extremely hilarious. Then he posed proudly for me to take his picture, making all sorts of goofy, obnoxious faces. Then I said "hold on a sec" while I reviewed the pics I'd taken on my LCD screen. That's when he stopped posing momentarily and looked down into his lap as he waited for me- which is when I quickly snapped the picture that I used as a reference for this painting.
