That Little Girl Was Me 

Dave Macdowell created “That Little Girl Was Me” using a labor-intensive approach to painting, rendering a portrait in oil paint on canvas. The flat weave and tight surface of the canvas provides a smooth surface for the artist's meticulous brushwork. Notice the subtle variations in tone and the blending of colours used to model the figures and background, creating an image that is both realistic and stylized. Macdowell seems to draw upon both classical portraiture and contemporary illustration. His choice of traditional art materials and painting techniques are evident in the smooth, almost photographic quality of the image. Yet the subject matter, depicting a young girl seemingly violated by a politician, lends the work its disturbing and unsettling quality. The oil paint application required considerable time, with each layer meticulously applied to achieve the desired effect. This stands in stark contrast to the immediacy of other art forms. Macdowell’s work reminds us that art can challenge conventional categories of craft and fine art, prompting us to reconsider traditional art hierarchies.