Vietnamese Child # 8

This is the eighth in my series of portraits of Vietnamese children. While most of the paintings are small 6 x 6 portraits, I wanted to complete this one with the entire figure. His stance and the cigarette clenched in his little eight-year-old fingers say so much. The suggested foliage in the background represents the denuding effects of agent orange. I plan to enter this one in James Gurney's six-word story challenge, which is why I included the text on the painting: "1968, Vietnamese child clenches cigarette, stares."

Vietnamese Child #8
Oil on board
16 x 12