Portraits

Spent the morning doing errands and yard work, and in the afternoon I watched Derek Jeter get his 3000th hit (and then some). Art became part of the day late in the afternoon. My town was hosting an art and music fair up and down Main Street and I decided to check it out. One of the advertised events was a portrait painting demonstration by local artist and gallery owner Lea Colie Wight. The subject of the painting would be my uncle George, who also happens to be the mayor of our town.

Some chairs were set up and in those seats were a couple of women I know from the Belmar Arts Council, who both happen to be regulars at the critique group that meets there. The oil study was completed in a single three hour session, and turned out to be a pretty good likeness.

During and after this I was involved in a few discussions on the topic of drawing and/or painting portraits from life, involving the artist, the subject, and the audience. I don't consider the portrait to be the focus of my art, but it's something that has always interested me and is part of my work. My uncle came in with the least experience with this process, and was surprised that the artist was able to complete the painting so quickly, and that she still had energy to spare when she was done. This didn't surprise me, as I know that speed and facility with representing people comes with repetition, and when an artist gets involved with a project, the hours can fly by. (it's not unusual for me to have to tell my students that we've come to the end of class and they have to leave)

There was some discussion of the different feel between a quick study and a fully realized portrait. While the latter will typically have more resemblance to the subject, the former can have a liveliness that can be appealing. Work of mine from this past week can demonstrate this. The model I drew from this past Wednesday really liked this 30 minute charcoal sketch, even though it was not completely accurate to her appearance- she was reacting to the energy of the mark making and the expressiveness of the face and hair. The smoking piece involved the model posing for two hours and a more careful study of her face and body, as well as a few hours of careful adjustments after that. It's a pretty good resemblance to the subject, and the face and body are logically proportioned. To keep the whole thing from feeling too stiff (more still life than life) I use a brush and ink as I fill in value, which I think gives it the more gestural feel of my quick charcoal drawings. It seems to work- whatever issues that some people have had with the piece in progress, everyone who has commented has seen attitude and emotion in her face and pose. That should carry through to the final piece.