Painting Italian Dreams

This award-winning artist adds layers of paint—and meaning—to her work

September 2017

Art history’s great masters inspire Grace Lin. “I’m awed by how they use paint to express their emotions,” says Grace, 13. An eighth-grade student at Jay M. Robinson Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina, Grace hopes to someday work as a doctor or medical researcher. But she says art will always be a part of her life.

What inspired this painting?

I’d never painted myself, so I decided to create a self-portrait. I’m a free spirit, and my dream is to travel the world. My goal was to make a painting that embodied those ideas.

Grace Lin

Are there any symbolic elements in your painting?

The bird represents my interest in travel. I looked at photos of Italy to inspire the background. I’ve always wanted to travel there. The landscape and language are so beautiful! Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa also inspired me. Like the woman’s pose in the Mona Lisa, my posture expresses a sense of dignity and peace.

What type of paint did you use?

I used oil paint. It’s my favorite medium because of the range of textures—from smooth to rough—you can create. I wanted my work to have an innocent, wholesome feel, so I layered the paint in a smooth way. This felt right since my character has many layers.

How did you create the painting?

I sketched the scene in pencil on my canvas. I outlined the general shapes to make sure the scale and proportions were balanced. Then I used brown paint to shade the dark tones on the face and the bird. I used broad brushes to layer the general colors for the buildings and sky. Then I did the same for my face and the bird. With my smaller brushes, I added the middle tones, details, and highlights.

What was most challenging about creating this work?

I can be clumsy and sometimes use too much paint, which can ruin a painting. I struggled to make the buildings straight and keep the details in my face clean and precise.