Embracing

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec re-visited, so I did this quick 60x40 pastel study. The way he captured the sensual intimacy of two beautiful loving people embracing one another is fascinating. His loose approach to the soft bedcloth they are wrapped in, the colour of their skin, their excitement and warmth visible in the tone of their ears and hands. He slightly dominates her, holding his arm across her, yet she is the one pulling him towards her and exposing her beautiful neck line to the viewer.

Better to have loved passionately and lost than never to have felt love at all .. but one can miss such an embrace for a lifetime.