Painting Portrait Tips / Lots of information about how to paint a portrait
Portrait painting from photography, what do you need to know?
The portrait all the way at the bottom is painted from a live session. Based on this portrait I will show you what are the pitfalls in case of portrait painting from photography. Continue reading “Portrait painting from photography”
It is really important to document and archive your artwork. In the past a professional photographer was usually needed, but nowadays most of you can do it yourself. So here I explain how to reproduce oil paintings. Continue reading “Reproducing an oil painting”
A lifetime drawing. That applies in any case to me. And portraits have always been the utmost challenge. Continue reading “A lifetime drawing”
People ask me often asked about the art supplies I use. I know well that good quality is not available for every painter. Too expensive or simply not available. Often one has to be content with what is available in the neighborhood. But now more and more can be ordered online, it is useful to read this article.
Interesting: Comparing oil paint. Lately I received this article on oil paint brands, about comparing quality and pricing.
I think it is really worthwhile reading.
Read the whole article.
Read also one of my posts on oil paint.
After twenty-five years of commissioned portraits there are many anecdotes I can tell. I have had some peculiar portrait commissions.
I have met a lot of people. Occasionally there was something special about a job, like the two times I got an enquiry for a female nude painting. In the first one, the client was the model´s husband; the client making the other request was the model herself. She wanted to give the portrait as a present to her husband on the day of the wedding. Continue reading “Peculiar portrait commissions.”
Last Friday afternoon, I made a “trifle” as the end of a busy week: Portrait of my stove. To wind down, so to say. The stove, the globe and my wife’s slippers.
Also I was triggered by the colour contrast of the stove window and the globe in the back ground.
I was interested in the light plane below the stove, which basically indicated the volume of that form. Despite the stove was black, I had no my black on my palette. The darkest value I made out of transparent oxide red, veridian green and ultramarine blue.
Talking about the stove, I show you an old trick how to clean the glass of the door. No chemicals! I take a damp cloth and use the ashes from the stove as an abrasive. In a few seconds the glass is clean!
Last month someone asked for the original photographs of “Little Boy” and “Little Girl” From today they are free to download here. I’ve also added the pictures of the painted portraits.
This week I received a question on artificial light for a painter´s studio.
The answer is to be found in the menu Tips & tricks. However I repeat that topic here.
My Studio in Chelva does not have sufficient daylight. So I decided to use a fluorescent lighting. I mounted four standard light boxes with eight fluorescent tubes of 150 cm. Continue reading “Artificial light for a painter´s studio”
Working away on a portrait I am reminded of those invaluable classes I took with you Ben and the various “lightbulb” moments. There is nothing worse than struggling with a painting, knowing you’re making mistakes and you don’t know why!
Each generation of masters handing the discipline down to the apprentice and so on. How could it work any other way? Which makes it all the more surprising that art colleges and state schools in Europe don’t do it anymore. Continue reading “State of the art”
Portrait painting from photography has pros and cons. One of the major drawbacks is the inclination to copy all the details. Detailed or blurry?Apparently every wrinkle, eyelash and hair lock must be displayed faithfully. But a good portrait is not a sum of all observable details. I have said it last week: It’s not about whether it just seems real, the point is that it is true and authentic.
In his book Alla Prima ll Richard Schmid says:” In my view, detail for its own sake is a shallow goal, because I don´t think art is about how much stuff I can depict” Continue reading “Detailed or blurry”
