What is a Portrait Painting?

Many people ask whether I work from photographs or from live sittings. The truth is that I would love to work from live sittings, but real life makes working from photos more feasible in most cases. However, I do not merely "copy" these photos. The point of a portrait is to capture the essence of the subject, which is always my goal in each painting. A photograph, on the other hand, is a snapshot in time, and can be very limiting in terms of illustrating one's true self.

When I take reference photos, I try and get to know the subject (if I do not already), and take hundreds so that I have plenty of material from which to paint the final portrait. The portrait is usually based on one or two photos only, but having many gives me more insight into one's personality. Here are couple of portraits and their reference photos that demonstrate how I've gone beyond the photo.

Self Expression

I recently completed another self-portrait in oil, shown here. I find it very convenient to use myself for a subject not only because I can take unlimited photographs, but also because I can use a mirror to check skin tones and see what the camera missed.

For this piece, I set up a camera using the timer to take several photos of myself set against a mostly white background. I wanted to create a feeling of being overwhelmed or desiring to hide in one's surroundings, and decided to call the final piece "Eclipse".

Oil Painting on Pastelbord

I finished the oil painting on Pastelbord and took a quick photo, shown above. The experience was very different than working on canvas - more "delicate" as I couldn't apply too much paint or it would get streaky. The background in the reference photograph was lacking because at the time the trees didn't have many leaves yet and the flowers hadn't really bloomed (not to mention that there was a big barn-like shed in the background). So I got my ideas for the background while on my morning jog, taking note of the variety of spring colors in the trees and flowers. To make sure the colors were accurate, I also looked at the trees outside my studio window while painting. Since it has been raining so much, the background ended up taking on a wet look, so I decided to call this "After the Rain".

Portrait from Black and White Photo

Above is a portrait commission I recently presented to a client. The first image is the main reference photo, a scan of a black and white photograph. Since this is a posthumous portrait, I relied on more recent photographs of the subject and also working with the client in order to get the coloring correct. This was a challenging but very rewarding experience, and I am thrilled that the client was very happy with the result.

Solitude with Reference

Today I am posting my reference photo along with my drawing to show how I'm using it to create the portrait. The photo is just printed on a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 white paper, and you can see how I've folded it to bring certain portions of the photo close to the drawing as I work.

I noticed that the photo was washed out (I'm pale, but not that pale!), so I used a mirror in addition to the photo to get the skin tones right, keeping in mind that light filtered through a window is slightly different from being outside in the shade. I also decided to add some much-needed lipstick and blush, and to have the eyes looking slightly less to the side. I haven't done too much more on this today, and I'm not sure how much more I will get done with Thanksgiving fast approaching. I'll try to post a progress photo again this week, but at the latest will have a new post next Monday.

Trees, trees, trees...

I've been drawing a lot of them lately! I mentioned in my last post that I was drawing from memory rather than a reference, and posted above are a couple of sneak peeks. Nothing too exciting yet! I do have reference photos that I'm using for the subject (me), but I'm disregarding the small partially green shrubs, vines, and trees in the background because I want a more stark feel. I have been paying close attention to the trees while on my morning run for added inspiration. Working without a reference right in front of you is SO liberating! I will work from a photo reference when drawing myself, but the great thing is that I can also look in the mirror to for additional detail and more accurate skin tones.

Portraiture and Reference Photos

“Photographs lie.” I’ve heard several artists use this phrase to describe the phenomenon of photographic distortion, and how the artist must learn to interpret the limitations of photographs in order to create realistic pieces. I think that this is especially true with photographs of people, as the subject is in constant motion, and the photograph may capture an uncharacteristic expression, or poor lighting and harsh shadows may conceal important facial features. Obviously, this problem can be overcome by working from life, and when this is not possible, partially overcome by taking hundreds of reference photos while paying careful attention to lighting.

Sometimes achieving this is not possible, as in the case of post-mortem portraits or when working from client photographs that are less than ideal, but I have no such excuse for my current portrait. The portrait in progress is shown in the center above, flanked by two of my reference photos. I took the photos in a museum with limited spotlights from above in order to preserve the integrity of the textiles on display. The photos are very poor in terms of clearly displaying the subject’s facial features, and I do not like the lighting in either of them. However, they do reveal some information about the subject’s facial contours and expression. Also, I was able to spend a good amount of time talking with subject and I was able to study her face and also gain insight into her personality. This time spent with her enabled me to clearly see that the photographs do not capture her spirited personality, though they provide decent roadmaps to work from.

This is where I think the true artistry of portraiture comes in. Though I used the photographs as references, I also spent a good deal of time stepping back and examining the face, using my memory to determine what needed tweaking to really capture her likeness. I also changed the lighting in the portrait so that it is not coming directly from above. Though I will make sure to obtain better references in the future, I don’t think of this challenge as a complete setback as I believe it has enhanced my understanding of what it means to create a portrait.