Portrait of "Lama"

Oil on panel, 12 x 12 inches (30.5 x 30.5 cm)
This painting was done during an open studio session at the Washington Studio School. For anyone who may not know, an open studio is a gathering of artists who chip in to pay for a model to pose for a few hours. This open studio is unusual in that the model takes the same pose for the entire three hours, and sometimes continues it the following week for another three hours. This is great for painters, since a painting takes longer to make than a drawing.
This model, Lama, is Lebanese. I was most interested in her bold-featured face, even though the pose she took was also very rich and interesting. I gave up on my initial effort after about an hour, so this painting was a two-hour affair.