More Portrait Progress

I am always more productive from September to May.

I seem to slow my painting down a bit during the summer (maybe I'm still in teacher mode)

 but I've managed to pop in a few hours here and there to work on my daughters portrait.

I wanted to make it extra special by surrounding her 5 year old self with the things 

she enjoyed most at that age. 

So my illustrated border is filled with 

Candyland and Pretty, Pretty Princess game pieces,

her faithful stuffed friend, Tramp and our yearly vactions to Lake Winnepausaki, NH is represented by the Chickadees and pine branches.

As I finish more of the border I'll explain the other objects.

I want to keep the border richly colored to make that green background sparkle 

and highlight the portrait.

I spent many happy hours drawing out this border.

I choose the variations of bright greens to complement all the pinks in her face and shirt.

It makes her pop and although the border is very detailed and richly colored I'm hoping that green will keep the focus on her.  As it should be :)

Happy Weekend!