This is my take on the mother & child theme. The regular, overdone formats of a child on the mother's lap or arms are cliche for me already. I thought of creating a more relevant look on the subject to be more visually related to the times.

MY INSPIRATION
I've been wanting to make a portrait of my wife and kid. Doing a portrait that is thematic is a serious venture for me. I remember doing several self-portraits before as part of my practice in getting the skin tone right. I did several portraits of my close relatives; some were fine, but the rest were not. Portraiture for me then was an intimidating task. Not only must I capture the sitter's likeness, but I should also make the whole painting "right". The portrait must blend well within the framework of the painting. If not, it will just affect the portrait no matter how excellently it was done.

MY DESIGN STRATEGY
The noticeable difference in the composition of the work is the placement of the child's head above the eye level of the mother. I wanted to visually express the dominance of the "younger generation" in a subtle and playful way. The role of the mother here is to lend support to the child, as the kid expresses her desire to play.

The mother just looks on with a loving expression, giving silent encouragement to the child.

The composition also allows me to further give the child's presence more dynamism and tension by showing more detail to her clothes. This is set against a more calmer look to the mother's attire. This is suggestive of a child's nature to be more active and vibrant. Even if the presense of the mother to the right, with her red blouse, lends a strong visual anchor to the work, the child's "active gesture" guides the eye to the right side, balancing the "push and pull" effect between the two figures.

And, as evident in my previous works, I have again employed the two-source lighting format in this piece. I thought that a warm, soft glow from the bottom will blend well into their faces. The cold backlight serves as accents to separate the figures from the background.