Illustration Friday: Legendary

Well, here is another Illustration Friday piece. The theme for this round was Legendary.
I feel just slightly guilty, contributing pieces created for other purposes....but if I didn't there's simply no way I could participate, so I this will simply have to do.
It feels sort of like going to a pot luck at someone's home and bringing something from the freezer, even if it's really yummy, from because there simply weren't enough hours in the day to whip up a timballo especially for the occasion, such as this Timballo di Riso alla Romana (thanks to Mario, one of my favorite chefs, Batali).
But, as usual, I digress.
Here is my contribution to Legendary, a painting from the picture-book I illustrated, The Baker's Dozen. This book is set in the area around New Amsterdam, the 17th Century Dutch Colonial settlement that eventually became New York. The town developed outside of Fort Amsterdam in the New Netherland Territory (1614–1674).......so, for inspiration and and reference on the fashions that people may have worn, seeing that were probably few shops or dressmakers early on and people would most likely still be wearing the clothing that they brought with them from back home in the Netherlands.......who better to turn to than the most legendary of Legendary Painters, the Master Himself, Rembrandt. My painting of the Old Woman was inspired by none other than Rembrandt's Mother. The Baker's Dozen takes place around 1650 and Rembrandt's painting was done in 1639. My most sincere thanks to Rembrandt for this...and so much else.

Rembrandt's Mother

The Old Woman

Some People Portraits of Authors

Since I've spent so much time painting and writing about pet portraits recently, I thought I'd show a few of the people portraits I've done for authors and their book covers/web sites.
Here is the portrait I painted of Aaron Shepard, the author of the picture book
The Baker's Dozen / Atheneum Books for Young Readers / which I had the honor of illustrating, and many other award winning books for both children and adults.
Here is another one of Aaron, a few years prior, for a book he wrote on flute playing:

And this one is of Anne Watson and her cat, for a book she wrote,
Smart Soapmaking, The Simple Guide to Making Traditional Handmade Soap Quickly, Safely, and Reliably:

I am finding that painting portraits...of pets people, people with their pets is really satisfying, something I really enjoy doing.
If you would like a portrait of yourself, a loved one or several, a person or an animal, or a combination......with a plain colored background or a "real" one or one completely imagined in your dreams, please let me know........I can paint you in a tropical forest with your favorite dog and a parrot, asleep on a cloud with your baby , your child playing with a baby elephant, your Grandmother dancing beneath the stars......
now, it's your turn.......