Three new portraits
 

Here they are, finally finished after weeks of sneaking in and out of these children's house (the portraits were a surprise for the father). The girl's portrait was painted from life, the boys with the usual B&W photo references, oil on linen.

I would have liked to have a little more room to move around, but the mother was very keen on the small size, so I had to stick to head and shoulders. I think though that this size gives them an intimate and cosy feeling, and I tried to suggest some relaxed pose to avoid the passport photo effect.

The painting are all the same size, but I have a brand new Mac computer and still have to figure out how to manage photos properly! I hope you will like them, thank you for looking

Ilaria

Dear Ilaria.

This is quite a satifying trio! You have created three portraits of highly unique individuals, and yet make them a family through your inimitable style and design. I bet the parents are thrilled. I love the way you elegantly simplify everything to its essence. Well done!

Garth

PS: which Mac do you have? Congratulations!

Ilaria,

What a great job you have done! It is so very difficult to integrate the painting elements in a trio of portraits, yet keep them individualized. I just love how you have created original and successful compositions for each portrait, yet they are still unified.

Could you talk about your decision-making with regard to placement, background, etc.?

Thank you
 

Garth, your comments are always so well articulated, thank you for taking the time.

I have a powerbook G4 15", so I don't have to share with the children anymore. I have spent the last week with my nose in there, I hope the novelty wears out fast, or my next commission will take ages to deliver !

Isn't it really difficult these trio thing: painting three portraits of different persons, heads of different ages and sizes, and find something to keep them together somehow but still being true to their identity?

I am doing it again in the paintings I am now working on, they span from eight to sixteen years old, it's going to be tough.

Here it's a sneak preview of the first one.

Ilaria

Chris, let me go to sleep, it's past midnight here, and tomorrow I'll put down the thoughts that crossed my mind while I was working
I.

Ilaria,

Your sneak preview is gorgeous, a superior composition especially being a square, and a real treat to see. What delicious colors! I can't wait for the rest.

Bravo!

Garth

Chris, thank you very much for yor comments, our posted crossed yesterday, so you asked me about unifying while I was writing on the same subject to Garth!

Right, so this was my strategy.

There are a few technical elements that unify the lot. Scale and size is the first one, it appears better when you see them live, but they are consistent and true to the real proportions of the heads, so the girl's slightly bigger, etc..

I use a limited palette, two yellows, two reds, two blues and white, so there is a certain unity in the colour throughout the paintings. Also, I chose to have a flat background behind them, something that would put them in their rooms, so I have a rug, a victorian fireplace and a poster (the latter was also very useful to lose the boy's ears, that stick out a little).

But for me the most important unifying element it's more of a philosophical kind. I struggled a lot to understand it, and now I am starting to grasp it and I think it shows from these last works. I'll take it from afar: the more I work, the more I am gaining the confidence to work live. This is enabling me to spend more time with the subject and creating a person to person relationship. The result is that the reaction to being painted comes out more clearly, so this is a powerful element that I think keeps the paintings together: they are all interacting with me.

The little boy is sweet, he is telling me he wants to be painted, the middle child is challenging, the girl, the one I spent more time with, she just didn't let me in. I am mother of three boys, teenage girls are a mystery to me, and I was uneasy in her room, and she was shy, she did not look, so this is how I painted her.

All this is, I think, giving a deeper dimension to my work, and I owe it all to my tutor, Minna Stevens. During the first term she pushed me on technical matters, managing the quantity of oil in the paint, dealing with edges, and so on. On our last meeting instead she told me to forget all the technicalities and just go for the person. I did not get it at the beginning, but now I start to understand, she is such a clever lady, you can view her work at www.minnastevensportraits.com.

So Garth this is where my question on your last painting came from. Because I am working on this idea of the relationship with the subject, I was interested in the non relational approach. I mean, if it is possible to build a portrait on the tension between painter and model, the contrary is also an option, which is, building it on its absence, on the unawareness of the model, so I find this is THE most powerful element in your painting, rather then the exquisite technique.

Am I talking sense?

Ilaria

Ilaria-

Excuse me for butting in but I just wanted to tell you how much I like these pieces and to thank you for all of the posts, especially the last one. How you captured the inner selves of each child with such delightful style and simple grace.

It is as if you captured every important element and let all of the fluff fend for itself.

Thank you and Bravo!

Your Palette
 

" I use a limited palette, two yellows, two reds, two blues and white, so there is a certain unity in the colour throughout the paintings."

After studying your paintings, I am so very interested to know what your yellows, reds, blues and even the white that you use are. I love the boldness in your style and also that of your tutor, Minna Stevens. Very strong and powerful. I thank you for sharing it.

Palette
 

Carol, this is a bit of a thorny subject...
I normally use:
yellow ochre pale
lemon yellow
(rarely Michael Harding Naples yellow)
Permanent rose W&N
vermillion (possibly Michael Harding but is sooo expensive)
french ultramarine
viridian (I know it's green not blue, but works as a blue to neutralize)
titanium white

Remember though, it's not what you use but how.
xxx
Ilaria

Hi Ilaria,

One of the things I most like about your work is the creative and bold way you design your backgrounds. They work so well with your fresh color schemes and looser brush strokes. I'm especially enjoying the closeup of the boy and they way you've placed the cool tones in his face.

I'm interested in what you wrote about painting the relationship between artist and sitter. Do your clients care whether you work from life or from photos? Do you feel you have more freedom working from life?

Palettes
 

Ilaria,
Thank you for your kindness in sharing your palette with me. I PROMISE not to challlenge you to a duel of the palettes. I especially enjoy the strength of colors in the shadow side of the faces as I am working on a group portrait with many of the same colors - especially the background. Does your mentor use the same palette?

Carol Norton

Painting from life
 

Hi Linda, how are you?
I have been painting from life a lot recently, and as I said I grew more confident. At the end of the day is only a matter of practicing.
I do agree at the beginning with the client that there will be live sittings, the more the better, and that I might want to go and paint in the house even if the subject is not there.
I find it very useful, when I am in the right mood everything goes swiftly, I paint fast because I am under pressure, and I can finally see all the purples, greens blues in the face. As you know I work from B&W photos, so I normally make them up a little, but seeing them it's actually much easier. Working from life also helps me to blur the image more. When I paint from an enlarged photo that I keep at 5 inches from my eyes I can see better all the details and tend to paint them, as if I had Superman vision. In the girl's portrait I managed to be quite loose I think.

Now, regarding the client's attitude, it is sometimes trouble. With the excuse of having them signing something to allow me to publish the painting with the name, I have now prepared a letter where I say that the portrait is a cohoperation between us, and that they need to be available. This last lady dragged me on for weeks before the daughter could find a week-end morning for me, I should have asked a big deposit!
But also going there with your easel, your stuff, setting up etc, I have noticed it generates a certain awe and respect that you can take advantage on. You must, I think, pose like THE artist, so that you can say: I am the artist, I will not modify the mouth! later on.


It is anyway very interesting and rewarding to establish a short friendship, especially with the children I paint. I just enjoy spending time with them rather then be always on my own upstairs listening to BBC4 !
Love
Ilaria

Carol, I don't know what colours Minna uses, I have never seen her painting, but they won't be too different from mine.
I checked you out!! I looked for the work you posted, unfortunately only found one, but I understood why you liked Minna and maybe me.
We paint more or less in the same way, with patches of colours and very little blending. This is a way of painting that is very popular over here, as it was masterly taught by Willliam Coldstream and especially by his pupil Euan Uglow.
I suggest that you buy a book on Uglow, he is an absolute genius with an incredible sensitivity for colour. I learned a lot from his work, and was taught by a couple of his pupils.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
Just snap it if you can, let me know if you fell in love with his paintings as it happened to me
Ilaria

Carol, Post scriptum:
You might find it useful to browse around here
www.commissionaportrait.com
xxx
I.

Uglow and Unblended Colour
 

"I suggest that you buy a book on Uglow, he is an absolute genius with an incredible sensitivity for colour. I learned a lot from his work, and was taught by a couple of his pupils."
*******
Thank you so much, Ilaria. I just ordered the book from Amazon and can't wait to get it. So many wonderful things to learn! How lucky can we be.

I have only posted one painting as its photo reference was so difficult to read and received a great deal of help especially in the arena of not using poor photos. (and I didn't want to take advantage of Chris Saper too much). I have done a couple of paintings from black and white photos: two I have completed, one is giving me fits. I am very interested in the fact that you paint from black and whites all the time. ... and... impressed. It leaves the imagination wide open for color choices but I AM struggling with the shadows. I am going to post more as time goes on.

Thank you so much for your interest and references.
Carol

You have a wonderful style. Very rich. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful!
 

Hi Ilaria -

I'm really enjoying looking at these paintings. Thanks so much for sharing them. They are really interesting, beautiful and engaging.

Ilaria,

I ditto the things already said about these charming portraits.

I also like that you painted the background colors darker and more saturated than the figures, it gives so much energy to the persons.

Allan

Thank you
 

Thanks to all for your comments, things about my work I did not know myself!
Being part of this forum is really a valuable assett to my daily activity.
I am just packing for a two weeks holiday in sunny South Africa, again thanks to all for viewing and have a Happy Easter
Ilaria

I always found that painting children is one of the most challenging thing to do... Congratulations for keeping that ambiance of innocence with the harmony of colors and regards...

Hi Sergio,
I see you are getting an interest on us painting just across the Atlantic. For me looking at other painters especially from abroad is a continuous source of inspiration.
I enjoyed very much your work especially because it is technically diametrically opposite to mine! I messed up a couple of promising paintings as I thought there was too much blending in some areas and just painted too muchover them. But going for maximum blending all over is also a solution.
Thanks for looking, more coming soon
Ilaria