Live Portrait Demo
 

Hi Everyone,
This past friday I gave a three hour live portrait demo at the studio of an artist (Michael Holter) near where I live. He gave me a call a couple weeks ago and asked if I could do a demo for the local "art walk" so I agreed...I had never done one before. I had my wife model for me so I could be sure the model would stay still.

I don't really paint in public very often (apart from my students over my shoulder) so this was really fun. I ended up on the front page of the paper as well this past Saturday which was cool.

I am not the most attractive man. My wife, however, is very beautiful...so naturally the photographer kept my mug out of the picture. I can't tell you how many people said to me, "You have such a beautiful model". I was just trying not to mess up her face.

For all who are interested you can click below to see the newspaper article. It's nothing big just to warn you.

http://www.jonathanhardesty.com/mariestudy1.htm

Jonathan,

Beautiful!

Usually when I have seen demos, most artists will use a higher contrast which is much easier to bring off.

You have acheived a beautiful degree of subtlety in a short and pressure filled amount of time.

Lovely.

Jonathan,

Your portrait is simply beautiful.The painting has life and spontaneity, and sensitivity.

Your article is a big deal and is well deserved. Congratulations!

Beautiful (model and painting) and very expressive.
Do you paint on blue canvas?

Jonathan,

I agree totally with everyone else. This is an amazing piece of work. Although it is true that your wife is beautiful, it is the life and expression that you brought out of her and put into your creation that really make this special. I love your colors, and your shadows are so nice and transparent.

Jonathan, a really impressive accomplishment, especially under time and audience pressure! Could you please tell us what your palette was for this painting to allow you such speed ?
Ilaria

Jonathan,
It's a lovely portrait, I am impressed that you could do such subtle work in a crowded place. Did you stand back for watching the values?

Sharon Knettell - Thanks for your kind words! I know exactly what you mean about artists using high contrast. I had no choice in this one because there was so much bounced light everywhere. Without the light next to my wife's face I had absolutely no shadows at all so it was definitely challenging. Whenever I get into a situation like that I always remember what I read in Richard Schmid's book. He says something to the extent of, "If something isn't an actual light source itself...you can paint it". So I figured I could paint it...and if it didn't turn out I could shift the blame from my lack of skill to the lighting scheme. ;) Thanks again for your encouraging words.

Chris Saper - Thanks! I definitely love working in a defined amount of time because the portraits definitely do have a certain spontaneity to them. In my training I would sit all day working on a cast with minimal deadlines so it's nice to have a little fire started under me every once in a while. Thanks for the comments about the article too. Something about being in the paper is definitely fun...although they made my wife's face look weird in that picture. She doesn't seem to mind though. Beautiful and certainly not vain...what more can a man ask.

Marina Dieul - Thanks! The blue is actually from an imprimatura (almost a wash layer) from another painting that I started on that canvas. If you scraped off my wife's face you would see the remnants of an old brass pot or something. I abandoned that still life, scraped it off and used the canvas for my wife's portrait. I don't have a specific tone of imprimatura that I use for all my paintings. I do a different color or value depending on the painting.

Alexandra Tyng - Thanks so much! I'm glad that you like the colors because I was actually struggling with those a lot on this painting. It was so hot in that place that my wife was getting flushed. All I felt like I could see on her skin was red and more red. Using artificial light didn't help any either. So the color was definitely a struggle so it means a lot to me that you found it successful. Thanks again!

Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco - Thanks! These are the colors I use in my palette. Ivory black, Ultramarine blue, Cobalt Blue Light, Viridian, Raw Umber, Asphaltum, Transp. Oxide Red, Terra Rosa, Alizarin Permanent, Cobalt Violet, Cadmium Red light, Yellow Ochre, cadmium yellow deep, cadmium yellow light, and titanium white. Although I don't think the palette has as much to do with the speed though. I think the speed has most to do with the drawing. If I can get the values and edges correct at the beginning then I am usually ok. I spend a long time on the drawing. For the first 2 hours this painting looked horrible. Everyone kind of passed over it and looked at the other finished work I had hanging up. It is only within the last 45 minutes that the painting started to "come alive". I spend a long time adjusting the drawing. I think the most important thing is knowing what color and value shape you should put down and knowing what kind of edge it should have. Color is secondary really. Bad color, I have found in my own paintings, is usually a product of improper values.

Allan Rahbek - Thanks! Yeah it definitely was crowded in there. Probably 500-1000 people passed in and out of the studio before the night was over. I definitely stepped back a lot. I have found that I need to be standing when i paint...I can paint sitting down but I don't prefer it. I like getting back and getting a general impression of what I'm doing. Often times I find it's the big things I am really messing up as opposed to the details. There were some periods of time I couldn't step back though because people were literally an inch from my back...one guy could have rested his chin on my shoulder hehe. Some people offered advice and things too. It was fun to meet all those different people and talk with them but it's definitely not the situation I would choose to paint in all the time. :)

Three hours? Wow.

This week I hired a model to come to my house to FORCE myself to draw from life and after three hours she still didn't have eyes, a nose or a mouth.

And I was working in pencil.

This is beautiful and so is your wife.

Jonathan,

I am very glad to see one more painted portrait of yours.
There is no word I can find to describe the feeling I have when I look at this portrait.
It must have been hard for you wife to stay still in front of all this crowd, and I can see in her face the link between you two. There's a silent dialog emerging from the painting, the kind of dialog you can "hear" when an artist can paint the soul. You are one of these artists. Deep congratulations. Please paint more portraits!

Also I would like to add that when you have to paint in front of people, it is indeed rather hard but I believe that it is a great exercise to evaluate how much one can focus on their activity. Surprisingly it can help you to focus more on your work, because you have to protect yourself from the influence of all the people surrounding you, and you end up with a work you probably would not have been able to create if you had been alone.

Anyway, good work :thumbsup: !
Looking forward to seeing future portraits!

Karine

Hi Jonathan, I just spotted this. What a beautiful painting! Congratulations on this sensitive, painterly work. (You're right, color really is secondary to values and drawing, but your color here looks wonderful. I just discovered cobalt violet also.)

If this is the first time you did a three hour demo, I hate you. ;) Next time you do this I would love to see progress photos.

Did you talk to the crowd as you worked? I think it is tough to answer the crowd's questions and still come up with a good painting - takes a lot of practice.

Again, what a lovely painting!

Very nice job -- and congratulations on the press attention. I also agree that painting in front of a crowd is a good (though challenging) experience. It does force you to hone your concentration!

Janel Maples - Thanks for your kind words. I actually don't think I could get as much done in pencil in three hours either. Pencil is really slow going for me. Charcoal seems more like painting but pencil takes me a while.. There is a quote of sargent's I read online where he says, "If only one had oneself under perfect control, one could always paint a thing, finally in one sitting. Not that you are to attempt this. If you work on a head for a week without indicating the features you will have learnt something about the modeling of the head." So the lack of features on your drawing isn't necessarily a bad thing!

Karine Monaco - Thanks so much Karine. I probably can't receive a higher compliment. That's definitely my goal with my portraits. Some view the multiple sessions with a model as an annoyance but I view it as a time to get to know them and inject their personality and "soul" into the painting. I also think you are right about having to focus more when in front of people. I guess you get your game face on when in front of others. I definitely had to concentrate a lot for this one.

Linda Brandon - Thanks so much! Cobalt violet is great isn't it! Just so expensive. I try to forget that it costs so much when I am painting or I would definitely be hindered by that fact. I really appreciate your kind words about the color as well. My wife was so hot due to the light next to her face that I said at one point, "All I can see in your face is red, red and more red!". I had to look hard for the color relationships. This was my first public demo so I accept your hate ;) . I realized that this would be a great way for people to become interested in your work...so perhaps I will do more demos.

I did have to talk to a lot of people but they were pretty interesting people so it was fun. In my studio I have a student and he watches me paint sometimes so I guess I'm used to talking and painting. I definitely have trouble with vocabulary while I'm painting heheh. Most of the time though if people asked in depth questions I would usually stop working and turn and talk to them. Thanks again for the kind words and encouragement.

Michele Rushworth - Thanks! Painting for the crowds is definitely an experience that's for sure. I was just hoping this wouldn't be an "off day" if you know what I mean hehe.

I like this painting a lot :thumbsup:

Jan Verhulst - Thanks!

For anyone who is interested here are some pictures from the event. I sent this out with my most recent newsletter but I thought you guys might be interested as well.

http://www.jonathanhardesty.com/news...pics/jonsdemo/

This is the closest I can get to progression pics. Sorry!

I always find photos of other artist's studios and demos fascinating. I particularly liked how you put the top easel clamp on upside down. That way the big wide ledge doesn't cast a shadow on the top of your painting. And propping that plastic box below the painting makes the lower edge of the canvas accessible too. Very clever! (Of course, it's a lovely painting, too!)

Thank you for sharing these. I enjoyed them very much.

Johnathan,

I just visited the website with the pictures. No wonder your model has such beautiful eyes in the painting. She's looking at you. I'd bet no other artist could obtain that look.

Nice job. Well done.

Jonathan, it looks like you had a great time and people really enjoyed your demo. Thanks for sharing!