Shirley Temple was my first crush. Now I was a little boy then and had no idea that the girl on the television I believed to be my age was actually, in real life, forty years older than me. But it doesn’t really matter. In the early 1970’s life in my small town in Ohio seemed so simple and innocent and the Shirley Temple movies that seemed to be on almost every weekend appeared to embody those perceptions. And with only five channels to choose from it seemed to a small boy that little Miss Temple, and her movies, were very important indeed.

I have been wanting to do a photorealistic painting for quite some time. Most of the time I am drawing from sculptures or paintings which is far different from attempting to accurately record what exists in reality, or in photographs which capture a moment of it. And when I am using photographs of models to combine them within masterpieces of Western Art I am altering those images to integrate them into the style of each particular painting; successfully or not. For much of my life I looked upon photorealism as an unnecessary pursuit because why recreate what photographs already accomplish. But I now understand that photorealistic painting encompasses technical elements I do not fully possess and that the development of these skills will add to my ability to execute the visual realization of my creative endeavors.

Photorealism became prominent in the late 1960’s and early 70’s. This corresponds exactly with when I became aware of Shirley Temple in the first place, which makes her the perfect model for this.

Acrylic and Oil on Canvas20” x 20”