Monday, February 21, 2011

The three elements of a portrait
















There are three attributes to a successful portrait:

Good likeness of the sitter
Original and personal interpretation by the artist
And finally and most importantly, the painting has to work as a good painting, irrespective of whether or not the viewer knows the subject.

Tonight we had a model for one long pose. I did a careful drawing and started washing in colour and then it was time for our pause. Sipping a cup of tea, a newspaper clipping of a Modigliani hanging on the wall caught my eye.

The wonderful simplicity inspired me to scrub off the paint and quickly sketch in this painting.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Not sure Picasso bothered about physical likenesses so is that really one of the essences of portraits?

Maybe he was an exception.

I love what you did, the simple lines but the whole captures the peacefulness of the sitter.

peaches said...

The model was Sheryl St.Germain, a poet and writer spending her sabbatical in my winter cottage. She has bought the portrait, saying she was pleased by the quietness that comes across. She says that it's a place she has been trying to get to.