Model in Vincent van Gogh Yellow Plus More...

Model in Vincent van Gogh Yellow

While painting in our Friday Group, I was thinking of how Vincent van Gogh painted portrait flesh as yellow, as I'd seen with his portrait face of Augustine Roulin at Boston's MFA, and thought... I 'can Gogh' that way, two. 7" x 5" (w x h), October 30, 2025, 7" x 5" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico hot pressed 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $150

Lullaby: Madame Augustine Roulin
Rocking a Cradle (La Berceuse)
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Dutch
Oil on canvas, 29" x 36" (w x h), 1889
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Source: Notes from various museums, edited

Vincent van Gogh arrived at the motif of La Berceuse through reading the novel Pecheur d'Islande (Icelandic fisherman) by Pierre Loti, inspiring the feeling of fishermen sleeping in rocking boats. While in Arles, in February of 1889 Van Gogh painted Augustine Roulin, the wife of postal worker Joseph Roulin in bold, exaggerated colors against a vividly patterned floral background. The rope in her hands leads to a cradle beyond the confines of the frame. At right, the painter inscribed the title La Berceuse, which means both "lullaby" and "she who rocks the cradle." The Roulins had a baby at home, but Van Gogh conceived of the action in a broader sense as well, writing to his brother that he would like to see this painting "in the cabin of a boat" where fishermen in "their melancholy isolation, exposed to all the dangers, alone on the sad sea would experience a feeling of being rocked, reminding them of their own lullabies." This painting is one of five variations Van Gogh painted on the same subject. In a May 21, 1889 letter Theo Van Gogh acknowledged his receipt of a group of paintings from Vincent Van Gogh including four portraits of Madame Augustine Roulin, including this painting. Vincent had given one to his model, who had her pick of the five. He began the portraits just before his breakdown in Arles, in December 1888, and completed them in early 1889.

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Bonus Poses Painted

from this painting session
where I went with the truer flesh color
Vincent used used in his hands of Augustine Roulin:

Behind the Model's View 10/31/2025

Painted in our Friday Drawing Group, 5" x 7" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $150

Sitting Torso 10/31/2025

5" x 7" (w x h), rough Painted in our Friday Drawing Group, 5" x 7" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $150

Looking Back 10/31/2025

5" x 7" (w x h), cold pressed Painted in our Friday Drawing Group, 5" x 7" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $150

Kneeling Looking 10/31/2025

5" x 7" (w x h), hot pressed Painted in our Friday Drawing Group, 5" x 7" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $150

Sitting Torso in Blue and Yellow 10/31/2025

8" x 10" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. on Arches cold pressed 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $300

While painting the one above, our wonderful model, Libby, who could see my work in progress since I paint on a horizontal easel and her pose faced me, she asked, "Are you turning me into the Ukrainian flag?"