Painting Portrait Tips / Lots of information about how to paint a portrait
A short break.
As you may have noticed there was no sign of life for three weeks. Our daughter got married and my wife and I we had a short holiday afterwards in Holland.
The pictures shows a view of the beautiful see/landscape at the Dutch “Wadden”
After our stay in Holland I left for France and today my late summer course Portrait Painting at Table-Tableau in Mougny, Burgundy has started.
May be it is amazing, but not always art gives me inspiration.
More inspiration? Often music. How does that happen? What do I feel? I’ll give you an example from one of my favourite songs by Bonnie Raitt. In the chorus of the song ‘Angel from Montgomery’ she sings the words, ‘Make me a poster of that old rodeo’. I am deeply touched every time I hear it. Although it is melancholy I enjoy it, I can relate emotionally, and I feel an un-nameable kind of consolation. I want to paint like that; as perfectly as I can, so that it will touch others in the way that the song touches me.
Even sport inspires me! Yes, I love football. A goal scored by Lionel Messi can bring me a moment of ecstasy, which I attempt to transport into my paintings.
Saint-Saëns, Carnaval des Animaux. Part III
Last Saturday we enjoyed the concert of Maria Rosell and Carla Alvaro in Maria´s place. Magic night! Sunday morning I recorded this short video and in spite of a little hangover the ladies played enchantingly! Thank you very much.
I am still working hard on my second video demonstration on portrait painting.
Here I am doing the voice-over. Again in English. I hope it is possible to make the subtitles in Spanish as well. If everything works well I can offer the video in three options: English spoken and English spoken with Spanish subtitles. Also the version in English with English subtitels because I was asked for by a deaf student.
I still need about a month. In august I have to leave Spain for England to do a portrait commission and I don´t think the video will be finished before the trip.
See also the short “coming soon” video on Youtube.
http://youtu.be/ZSeQN6Po_6E
We are living for 23 years now in Spain and I still enjoy our life here very much. Nice country and nice people. I never miss Holland but sometimes when I see my older watercolours I want to go for a short walk in the polder.
Malyavin, portrait of Somov.
A couple of years ago when we were in the Russian Museum, St Petersburg, I was able to take some pictures of this marvellous portrait of Somov by Malyavin. These were the last pictures I took before two stern-looking ladies, museum attendants, asked if I had a permission to do so. Of course I did n´t. I had to show my passport and visa. Luckily I seemed to convince them that I was not a professional photographer and after an hour and a half they let us go. Later on I will show some other pictures that I took earlier that day.
