Wrinkled face with character

This is the mother of one of Genvieve’s caregivers and Joy enjoyed painting her wrinkles, as the lady didn’t care, and that kind of portrait was not Joy’s usual wont. In a way the interest and fascination in painting the wrinkles has carried over into painting the very delicate hand. I have thought about why this hand was included and I can see compositionally that the curve of the hand takes us to the very definite focus on the eyes, which curve, incidentally seems to start at the collar of the sweater on the left of the painting as we look at it, and continues all the way to the eyes. It is not a standard pose and perhaps it is that which gives the image a unique and unforgettable quality.