- 35 -                                                                 "This is an example of what is probably the most basic of my portraits. It was painted entirely using a palette knife. The technique is very comfortable for me and I can really get into the painting by using a great deal of oil paint and then sort of sculpting the medium in the direction of the forms. The background is meant to give atmosphere to the young boy's head and shoulders. It is quite neutral but gives depth to the child's head by being darker on the light side of his face and lighter behind the darker or shadow side of his face. In this painting I wanted to convey a pensive mood with his eyes not confronting the viewer. In general I would say that here is a simple, straightforward portrait painting exemplifying my method of direct painting knife application." A.B.