Thomas in The Blue Chair

Clive Fullagar · 07-04-2003, 11:17 AM

First, happy 4th of July - and that's from an Englishman. Here is a portrait of my youngest son that I have just finished. He is on the eve of independence. The portrait itself is 23" x 31".

Clive Fullagar · 07-04-2003, 11:20 AM

Here's a close-up of his face.

Linda Brandon · 07-04-2003, 01:28 PM

Clive, this is a fresh, appealling portrait. You make distinctive color choices which give you your own style, and I really like your work.

Your son reminds me of my own, handsome and lanky. This clever pose emphasizes that enviable 'young teen' quality.

Best wishes,
Linda

Mary Pedini · 10-29-2003, 09:23 AM

Hi Clive,
I have just recently stumbled across this post and wanted to let you know how impressed with it I am, especially your use of color and texture. The shirt is so well done. How did you handle it? Lots of different sized brushes? How about the rug? It's a very sucessful piece.

Mary

Erika Nelson · 10-29-2003, 01:41 PM

Hello Clive,

What a beautiful portrait, it seems so consistent with the sitter's (your son), personality. I love your choices of colors and textures.

Everything is so WELL rendered; you also managed a nice balance between the big luxurious chair and your laid back subject.

Clive Fullagar · 10-29-2003, 02:19 PM

Thank you Mary and Erika...and a belated thanks to Linda.

I am trying to work on pose, location and light in my pictures - broadening the angle of the lens as it were. I have always had a strong passion for Jan Vermeer. I really love the way he gives the viewer the impression that you have just interrupted the subject in some intimate moment (reading a love letter or weaving or pouring) and how that moment tells us so much about that person - it is almost as if you feel privileged to have shared the moment (of course Vermeer could make you feel privileged in the presence of a potato). Anyway, that is what I am trying to do here with Thomas - capture not only an interrupted moment but also the nature of his relationship with me, his father (I think he looks pleased to see me and he's definitely very relaxed having me around. I want to remember that when I look at this painting, especially as I know when he reaches his teens (he's 12 now) he'll gain a little awkwardness around me and acquire that teenage embarassment at even having parents). I don't think that I could have achieved any of this with a more formal pose. Sometimes the pose can hide the person.

In terms of the technical issues that you raised Mary - the carpet is basically stippled and the paint applied pretty thickly to the cushions. With the shirt I started of with an undercoat of blue and then applied shades of white on top and scraped through some of the finer lines.

I am glad to see that this painting has resuscitated some interest.

Gene Snyder · 10-29-2003, 02:46 PM

Clive, this is a great portrait! It has a perfect balance of color and composition. I love the way the warm colors in your son's skin contrast to the cool colors of the wall and chair. By the way, what colors did you use to arrive at the colors in the wall and picture frame? It is an interesting color that I don't see often. I love it!!

Your composition is a perfect combination of line and shape. I love the way just a small sliver of the table on the right keeps you in the painting and creates an open composition to the remainder of the room that we cannot see. Everything would be off it weren't there. Also the angle of the edge of the carpet at the bottom is great and adds a lot of interest and movement. The angle adds visual weight and sets everything else off of that angle and away from the bottom edge of the painting, which once again, if the rug's edge were not there, the rest of the painting would fall apart. It's all a perfect balance that you've achieved in a brilliant painting!!

Very nice work!