Portrait painting & hanging garlands.

Portrait painting & hanging garlands.

In portrait painting it is always a matter of the right colour in the right place. Nothing more, nothing less. Even so in landscape and still life painting, but an important difference with portrait painting is the issue of the likeness of the face. In my commissioned work I really want to show the best likeness I can. I am not Matisse who once answered a disappointed lady seeing the portrait he made. “But this is not me”, she said. Indeed, he replied, this is a Matisse! For me likeness is fundamental. But in a portrait there are areas where similarity is not so much at issue. For instance in the hair. Of course the whole haircut must be right and recognizable, but especially in this zone a painter can show more freedom. Smooth brushstrokes. Some say Happy Brushstrokes. I call it Hanging the Garlands. Hanging garlands means having a party. That is my intention here. In this detail I hope you can see what I mean.