John Hansen Artist Artwork - Girl with a Balloon

Painting this piece was an absolute joy. The subject is the sister of a playmate my son befriended when he was very young. I took photographs of her at their home, and initially, the red balloon was intended to represent the family's small dog. This painting presented several artistic challenges.

The development of the girl's white top was inspired by a passage I encountered in a book about Gerard ter Borch. The passage detailed how the artist was taught to "paint snow," a technique he later applied masterfully to depict the exquisite silk dresses in his works. I adapted this approach to render the girl's white blouse.

Painting the balloon proved to be an exercise in precision, particularly regarding its edges and color. The outline needed to be both sharp and subtly rounded, a challenge that brought to mind my earlier observations of Michelangelo's "Doni Tondo."

Perhaps the greatest success, the rendering of the white wall, was more serendipitous than planned. Achieving a true sense of whiteness in a painting can be elusive. As I worked on the wall, I initially applied a warm tone that, at the time, seemed overly harsh – a potential misstep. However, when I overlaid this with a grey heavily mixed with violet and charcoal black, the color transformed into a perfect finish.