Whitaker met painter Xavier Martinez at Coppa's Restaurant in San Francisco. Finding her a perfect subject, he sketched her and began his Elsie series. After the earthquake of 1906, Martinez moved to Piedmont. Months later, he proposed to an 18-year-old Whitaker, who had already promised to marry at least four other men, who were friends of her father. Choosing Martinez, she said, "I decided to pick the one who would give me the most interesting life." Martinez, at 37, was only two years younger than Elsie's father Herman Whitaker. The couple married in October 1907.