Painting Portrait Tips / Lots of information about how to paint a portrait
‘What subject do you prefer?’ A frequent question. Actually I don´t know what to answer. Do I prefer official-portraits? Each portrait is fun to do whether it is a small child or an old lady, a professor or a lawyer. It is true that some faces are more attractive than others. A commissioned portrait never leaves me a choice and it is always exciting to see what model will appear. The same goes for official portraits. Continue reading “Official-portraits”
Looking back on some of my portrait commissions from the old days, I sometimes do with trepidation and mixed feelings. More than once it just happens that I´am no longer completely satisfied. These works I will not show you of course, haha! But occasionally I see something and I think: Not that bad.
Let me start with a quote of the famous Art teacher Robert Henri form his book The Art Spirit:
“Better paint the gesture of the hand than the hand”.
I love to paint hands and this fantastic phrase animates me once again to show the expression of the hand.
Painting hands in oil paint. Many people think that a painted portrait is just only about the face. Of course it is more than that. Hands can belong just as well to the whole image. Hereto the hands of a commission that I have on my easel now. When the portrait is delivered, and I have the permission of the client, I’ll show you the whole painting. Continue reading “Painting hands in oil paint”
This week I was asked in an interview, whether I prefer to do portraits of men, women or children. I replied that I rather like to portray older people. The more wrinkles, the better. A young woman is often difficult to do because you can easily mess up a flawless face with some bad brushstrokes. Teenagers can become upset by how old or young they may appear. Middle aged people sometimes can be boring.
The delivery of a portrait. After all these years, I am used to it. For the client, however, it´s a special moment. This time, transfer was in Amsterdam at Galerie Morren, who mediated this commission. In addition to the customer and his wife, a number of family members were also present. There was good wine and delicious snacks: portrait delivery is always a party. Continue reading “Satisfactory deliveries of some commissions”
Rarely an artist wants to talk about it and certainly not show it : A failed job. You would rather share a glorious victory, than admit your loss. Even though you’re a successful painter, every so often it happens that you might get stuck. With non-commissioned work it does not necessarily have to lead to a problem, but when it comes to a commission it surely does. The client expects a top performance from you. I assume that you yourself are many times more critical than the client. (If not, you need to seriously doubt your artistic attitude).
I speak from experience: failing is more common than you might think. I wrote recently about this and I come back to it because it is an important fact. Why? I am convinced that you learn more from your failures than from your successes. What do you do in such a case?
Don´t keep muddling on and painting like a headless chicken, hoping that the problem will correct itself with a fluke. Lay down your brushes and stop.
Don´t panic; analyze the failure.
My statement for this week: You always feel as good or bad as your last painting.
The answer to my question of two weeks ago, where in this watercolour portrait I applied two gouache strokes, is this: the bright reflected light under the chin and the blue accent on the collar of the shirt. Among the good answers I raffeld a DVD.
The DVD goes to:
Marija Gaspar from Zagreb. Congratulations Marija!
Thank you all for your participation.
This is a commissioned portrait in watercolour that I made years ago. During the sitting I noticed the independent and tranquil look of this little boy.
“An artist is not a psychologist,” I quoted in one of my last posts. Yet a portrait painter is happy if he sees a quality in a face he wants to emphasize. So was I and I tried to capture this pensive look. I was sincerely happy when the mother exclaimed: “Yes, this is my son with his eternal gaze!“.
The portrait is in watercolour but there are two brushstrokes in gouache. I wonder if someone can find them? Among those who give the right answer I will raffle a video demonstration. Let’s say up to a fortnight.
Paul C. Burns says: “An artist is a visual recorder of facts, not a psychologist probing the sitter’s self.” I largely agree with him. Paint what you see before you. Still, I find it important to know something of the character of the model. It can help whilst posing. Posing is an interaction between the sitter and I. A model feels more at ease when I am patient and sympathetic. My attitude must be inviting. Only then can we create something good. In the end a model should give me something that I can give back in the portrait.
The model in this image I know well and I know her character. She is energetic and vigorous. I suppose that it has become visible. In my enthusiasm however I overlooked a small detail. I now see that the fingers of her right hand are spread too wide. The model’s energy and vigor has therefore become a little too exaggerated.
There is always a detail that you would like to change when you look back on your own work.
Portrait painting is my daily job. But don´t think that everything always runs smoothly for me. It sometimes happens to me that a portrait fails. In the case of a commission it is a big problem. Of course over the years I have developed a routine wherein I, step by step, can detect a possible problem and fix it. Needless to say, that belongs to my profession. But sometimes it happens that I desperately wonder how to proceed when I find my self in deep trouble.
Once I was in such despair that I decided to destroy the portrait on my easel. Eventually I realized that that was ridiculous. After a while I decided to start over again the next day. I went into the garden to work and have some distraction. Then, when I came back in my studio, I saw the abortive work on the easel. As the painting already was screwed up I decided, I could just haphazardly do some muddling.
And what was the result? In fifteen minutes the portrait was back on track and after an hour it was finished! I was satisfied and later certainly the customer was.
What now is the essence of my story? (Evident of course): If you tend to get stuck do not despair but take distance and relax. The solution may be within reach, but you don´t see it because you’re so wired up.
Sheer willpower can sometimes be destructive!
