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This is a child called Roselyne age 26 months in December 1953, which would make her my contemporary. I hope she’s still happy and still alive, possibly still in France, though of course just because the writing on the back of the card is in French doesn’t mean that’s where she’s from, there are plenty of other countries where French is the native language.
Apart from the details on the back of this postcard-style photo, I don’t know who she is, this card was part of a collection of photos I bought some while back, of children and babies, as colouring photos of children is one of my most favourite things to do!
I’ve gone for a soft pink and lilac look to this and hope her skin tone looks fairly gentle. I tend to avoid putting blush into children’s (and adult’s) cheeks as I think it can make them look more like caricatures than real people, so I leave that to the viewer’s imagination. Generally, in my own colourings, I find that once the light and shade has been balanced, the skin tonalities find their own levels.
It would be nice to think that Roselyne might, one day, be looking at photos online and recognise herself. If she does, I hope she will contact me so that I can send her photo to her.
Here’s the back of the photo:
