Sometimes paintings go very quickly and other times they take years to bring to completion. I started this one back in 2019. I wanted to capture that first awkward feeling of puppy love that I remember from when I was young. I actually showed this canvas at an earlier stage in 2020 but it didn’t feel done to me. I brought it back to my studio and had it stacked behind stuff. I’d pull it out from time to time, ponder it, and put it back. Then several months ago I took it out and suddenly realized what needed to change.

I loved the girl’s head but the boys head had always felt unresolved. I painted it out and changed it from a St. Bernard to a Beagle. This gave the figure a more graceful gesture and also made it appear that he was reaching up to kiss the taller girl which amused me. Then I realized that the boy’s shorts, which were a bright blue, were drawing attention away from the focus of the piece so I repainted them brown. That made them more harmonious with the composition and also suggested the colors of a Beagle’s body. Once I started reworking the figures I couldn’t stop. I felt I could do a better job on the rest of them so I repainted the arms, legs, dress, shirt, and sections of the shoes.

At that point the figures were finally working and it was time to turn to the background. I already had them standing by The Lake in Central Park showing lovers in boats paddling around. It occurred to me that adding roses inspired by the nearby Shakespeare Garden and butterflies fluttering around would complete the sense of first love sprouting in the springtime. Playing with humor in my work has always interested me and the idea of introducing all of these elements generally associated with kitsch made me laugh.

I did a little more reworking and repainting elements in the background and finally what had for years felt like an unfinished sketch of an idea resolved into something that I really loved.