This was a somewhat reverse creation process for me. With my personal work, I don't usually start with reference materials to get ideas from. It's the other way around. The idea comes first. But I rarely put it on paper in the form of rough sketches, color studies, etc. Instead it continues to brew in my head until I have a more or less complete picture of what I want. Then I take my camera and go hunting for reference (or search my archive for it) to suit the idea. Once I'm done, I finally grab my pencil and start drawing. This was the other way around - there was the photo, and we decided to play around with it. The client loved Ayumi-san's mischievously happy expression, and wanted to capture it. Wondering what might have prompted her to smile and strike such a pose, there came the idea that she might be playing with a child, and that the child might be seen reflected in her irises.

We didn't want to just copy the photo. Apart from expanding it to include more of the woman's hand and head, the idea was to give the painting a more traditional feel. She would be wearing a kimono, and her hair would be done in a traditional fashion. On the other hand, there would be a fusion of past and present, as her nails would remain long and funky, and her hair a shade of bright copper red and done up in a contemporary style.

In the rough sketch (see above), I worked out the basic elements of the girl's pose and the composition, without bothering with many details. That would come later. The background wasn't a concern yet either, all I knew was that it would have to be understated, as to not to overwhelm the face -  likely cloudless sky or a smooth wall. The anticipated level of detail called for a large canvas (18x24"), but at this point the rough is only 8x11". So separately, I sketched the iris with the little girl reflected in it, making it the size I expected it to be in the actual painting.