First time posting here

[Matt Viinanen]

Hi all.

First of all, I have to admit I feel a bit intimidated about posting here, and showing my work. When I look at the names of the members here, I see names of people I really admire... and that's kind of scary! It's a great place for knowledge that's for sure.

So, a few samples of my more recent work:

- A self portrait, oil on canvas 24x20"
- Portrait of my son William, oil on paper
- Portrait of a boy from Tibet, oil on paper

(I don't normally work on paper, but these two were part of a few experiments I was up to at the time)

All the best,

//Matt

[Sharon Knettell]

Matt,

You don't have to worry in the least about the quality of your work being good enough to post here.

You have a really beautiful painterly touch and your grasp of form is really quite wonderful.

Your self portrait is really quite masterful as well as the one of the Tibetan boy.

I have a problem with the portrait of your son, The profile edge is really quite harsh, and it doesn't seem to have that roundness associated with baby heads. It is rather at an awkward angle and the eye looks strange. Look at Rubens and the English portrait artists, Reynolds and Gainsborough for examples. Study Velasquez for edges. See how varied his are.

Is the painting of the Tibetan boy from your own reference or did you use a published picture. There are copyright laws that would prohibit this and you have to be very careful. It is better to use your own photographic reference or better yet, work from life.

As to making a living, it really depends a great deal on what the market is in your area and how original your depictions are. Simply copying photographs won't work. You have to have your own unique point of view. That is the most important thing. Then you have to really work on your craft. Figurative work, though on the rise, is a hard sell in most markets, suffering the onslaught of abstract expressionism and postmodernism for the last 9 or 10 decades. People do not know how to evaluate figurative work anymore. The average person thinks that if your work resembles a photograph or is a really close copy of one, then you are a really good artist.

I hope this helps.

[Matt Viinanen]

Thanks Sharon!

Yes, I am fully aware of the restricted use of other artists images. When I use a photograph which is not mine, it is only for my own practice and will never be subject of a sale.

Thanks for the input also, that's very kind of you!

(I edited my previous post as it didn't come out the way I wanted it to.)

All the best,

//matt

[Linda Brandon]

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the Forum! I see a strong Zorn-like quality to your expressive painting style and I like it very much.

Marketing yourself is all about showing your work to people who will want you to paint for them. This is harder to do than it sounds. You are certainly well on your way in terms of managing paint technique.

I hope you will contribute a lot to our Forum and give encouragement and advice where necessary.

[Matt Viinanen]

Hi Mrs. Brandon.

I hope you will contribute a lot to our Forum and give encouragement and advice where necessary

It would be my honor and pleasure.

Thanks for your kind words!!

//matt

[Garth Herrick]

Matt,

Let me also welcome you to this Forum. I am impressed, especially with your son's portrait that you achieve strength and unity in the design of your long, sweeping brush strokes, and yet maintain within these strokes, every subtle and delicate nuance. Well done! Let me also echo Linda, in the invitation and hope that you will contribute much to this Forum.

Garth

[Matt Viinanen]

Cheers Garth!

//matt

[Linda Brandon]

Originally Posted by Matt Viinanen

Hi Mrs. Brandon//matt

Please call me Linda, Matt!

[Allan Rahbek]

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the forum. I like your strong painterly style and hope that you will participate in the critic sections as well as showing more of your works.

I should like to discuss the terms of marketing traditional portraits in our part of the world.

A fellow Scandinavian, Allan