An elfish young woman. Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday was the archetypal, unforgettable, adorable gamine.
Gamine is a French word, the feminine form of gamin, originally meaning urchin, waif or playful, naughty child.
The word was used in English from about the mid 19th century (for example, by Thackeray in 1840 in one of his Parisian sketches), but, in the 20th century, came to be applied in its more modern sense of a slim, often boyish, wide-eyed young woman who is, or is perceived to be, mischievous, teasing or sexually appealing.
I am a Northwest artist who is fascinated by faces and people. I work with a brush drawing of a face or human figure. Then I apply ink, paint and gel in various layers to create rich colors and textures. Along the way my images are painted, scrubbed, rinsed off, then ink and paint are reapplied until the final image is finally revealed. The process of discovering who the figures will become keeps me "intrigued and absorbed."