Painting my Daughter Sienna

My daughter Sienna turned nine this weekend, and honestly, I can barely believe it. Where does the time go?

The previous weekend we were sat around the kitchen table doing arts and crafts together, one of our absolute favourite ways to spend an afternoon. I’d decided to do a bit of painting, and she looked over at me with those bright eyes and asked, “Mummy, will you paint me?”

I haven’t painted her since she was a toddler. Back then, capturing her was like trying to paint a butterfly, she couldn’t sit still for more than thirty seconds to even get a photo – she’s not really changed that much lol!. She’s become this wonderful little person with her own thoughts, her own style, and as I discovered, her own very strong opinions about when a painting is finished.

The light in our kitchen that afternoon was beautiful and warm, creating this gorgeous glow on her face. I grabbed my phone, took some reference photos, and got straight to work.

The Funniest Part

Here’s what made me laugh throughout the whole process: every few minutes, Sienna would pop up beside me, peer at the board, and announce with complete confidence, “Mummy, I think you’re done. Don’t overwork it. You don’t need to do any more. Walk away, walk away!”

She’s been listening to me teach all these years! And you know what? She was absolutely right. Sometimes we need someone (even a nine year old) to remind us that knowing when to stop is just as important as knowing when to start. Overworking is one of the biggest challenges we face as painters, and my daughter has clearly picked up on that from hearing me talk about it constantly.

Starting with the Drawing

I began with a careful drawing using the grid method. Now, I know some people think drawing isn’t necessary for expressive painting, but when you’re trying to capture a likeness, especially of someone you love so deeply, getting that foundation right is absolutely crucial.

When you know a person so well, you can instantly tell if something’s off. A tiny shift in the placement of an eye, a slight change to the curve of a mouth, and suddenly it doesn’t look like them anymore. It’s actually much harder to paint someone you love than a stranger, because you’re so intimately familiar with every detail of their face.

I spent quite a bit of time on this drawing stage, checking proportions, measuring relationships between features, making sure everything felt right before I even touched paint to board.

The Magenta Underpainting

Once I was happy with the drawing, I started with a magenta toned ground. This is something I love to do because even though most of it gets covered, those little glimpses of that vibrant colour peeking through add such life to a painting.

Of course, Sienna popped over my shoulder at this point and said with genuine concern, “Mummy, why are you painting me in pink? My favourite colour is blue!”

I had to laugh. “Don’t worry,” I told her, “we’re going to lose most of the magenta. But I love seeing bits of it coming through in the final painting. Trust the process!”

This is something I teach in Vibrant Visions, this idea that your underpainting doesn’t need to match your final colours. In fact, having contrasting colours beneath can create such beautiful vibrancy and interest. The magenta would peek through here and there, adding warmth and energy that you simply can’t get by painting directly on white surface.

Building the Main Shapes

Next came one of the most important stages: establishing the main shapes and values. This is where the painting really starts to come together, where you begin to see the person emerging.

I always work across the entire painting rather than finishing one section at a time. This is so important for creating unity. If you complete the face entirely before touching the background, you risk everything looking disconnected. By developing all areas together, even if they’re at different stages, everything relates to everything else. The colours inform each other, the values balance out, and the whole painting feels cohesive.

Sienna snuck a peek as I was taking progress photographs. I could see her tilting her head, trying to work out if it looked like her yet. That’s the stage where it’s still a bit uncertain, where you’re blocking in shapes and it hasn’t quite resolved into a recognisable image. You need faith in the process at this point.

Warming Things Up

As I progressed, I started warming up the tones to capture that gorgeous light that was falling on her face that afternoon. The kitchen light was creating this beautiful, warm glow on one side, and I wanted to make sure that came through in the painting.

This is where understanding warm and cool colours becomes absolutely vital. The warmth of the light, the cooler shadows, the way colours shift depending on whether they’re in direct light or shadow, all of these relationships create the illusion of form and depth.

I was constantly stepping back, squinting to check my values, making sure the lightest lights and darkest darks were in the right places. Values are honestly the secret language of painting. Get them right, and even if your colours are a bit wonky, the painting will still work. Get them wrong, and no amount of beautiful colour mixing will save it.

The Hardest Part (And the Best Part)

Painting someone you love is genuinely one of the hardest things you can do as an artist. The stakes feel so much higher. You want to capture not just what they look like, but who they are. That spark of personality, that essence that makes them them.

But it’s also one of the most rewarding experiences. Every brushstroke felt meaningful. Every colour choice mattered. And seeing her face emerge on the board, seeing that light on her cheek, the way her expression held all the personality I know and love, it felt like

What Happened Next

The painting is now finished (Sienna made sure of that!). She’s thrilled with it, which honestly means more to me than any exhibition or sale ever could.

And of course, now my youngest daughter wants me to paint her too. And my husband has mentioned, quite pointedly, “You know, you’ve never actually painted me…”

So it looks like I’ve started something! Watch this space for more family portraits lol!

Your Turn

Have you ever painted someone you love? It’s such a different experience from painting a reference photo of a stranger or working from imagination. The emotional connection changes everything, makes you more careful, more nervous, but also more invested in getting it just right.

I’d love to know in the comments: have you painted any of your family members? What was that experience like for you? Did you find it harder or easier than painting other subjects? And did anyone stand over your shoulder telling you when to stop?

Let me know, I genuinely love hearing your stories.

Happy painting,

Michelle ✨