Mentor

Debra Jones · 06-22-2004, 10:13 PM

I have actually been finding a frighteningly real modicum of fame recently doing animal portraits. I have been accepted on the cover of a few breed publication and am doing for dogs what Chris Saper is doing in the nicer shopping malls - demoing!
I have been doing a string of bulls, mastifs and bull terriers and they all reminded me of my mentor, Rob Howard.

As a joke on New Years, he mentioned he liked my portraits so much, his wife suggested I do his self-portrait this year!
So, as a break from the animals, I got out the oils and did this last night before bed.
20x22"
oil on canvas.
It is charcoal he is holding. Back to basics!

I know, a teacher should have a brush or a pencil in his hand, but does anyone get the feeling of an artist's mentor?

Holly Snyder · 06-23-2004, 07:08 AM

Hi Debra,

I always enjoy looking at your work. You paint so quick, and the liveliness and freshness always comes through in your paintings. This one's no exception, very nice. He's just on the verge of saying something important. One little thing however is the line running down the middle of his arm, it looks like it used to be part of a background line above his arm?

Regards,

Holly

Debra Jones · 06-23-2004, 07:25 PM

As this is a sort of final exam for my own purposes, I just taped a piece of canvas to a big board. It is a fold in that.
Not STRONG fold, but I photographed this in available light at night and the shadow shows it up very strongly to avoid the glare off the wet paint.

In the Cennini forum which Rob owns, we are having a debate on what I would call flattery versus documentary.

It is apparent he is no fashion plate. And, I found out, he has actually had his jaw reconstructed. My piece was dissected and reconstructed to look AVERAGE by the participants and Rob (the model) jumped in to say he was a jigsaw puzzle of a face. I am wondering what he would say as the artist PAINTING this man as a commission.

How do most of you feel about the unique individual? Do you strive to show that lovable imperfection that makes them exceptional or do you generalize, and balance and strive more to flatter?

I see good arguements for both and how do you find you make the choices?

Love to hear techniques and opinions!

Linda Brandon · 06-23-2004, 09:58 PM

Hi Debra,

This is a wonderful "artist at work" painting, fresh and strong. (I thought for a minute that it was one of your pastels.) I also admire the way you've framed his head between the two verticals.

You know, I'm wondering if one of the reasons everyone says your work is so direct and bold is not just because of your painterly strokes, but also perhaps the way you frequently crop your subjects. You seem to crop tighter than many other painters do, what do you think?

Debra Jones · 06-23-2004, 10:08 PM

Absolutely Linda.
This, as you know, is one of the widest vistas I have done in a while.
It is a lot like my self-portrait and I am trying to figure out how to work a bit more with symbols and scene.

I have a philosophy about my portraits. I seem to think if you show a head with too many clues as to time and place you are set up for dating it. The back combed flips of the sixties and tight fingerwaves of the thirties and twenties. But I keep thinking that if I wanted to show a classic, and timeless image, I close in on the features to keep people from placing it in a specific time.
Mostly an odd and eccentric idea of my own.

This is a big one for me.
I have begun just taking a sheet of canvas to a board and doing the art. If it rates a stretch, I do it after the fact when it is dry and if not, it goes on pant hangers in a closet for a couple of months. I can store them flat out here in the dry with a little care to watch they don't stick to anything or roll them very loosly just to archive them. All those open studio pieces on stretchers are staring out at me. I need to pull the staples out and put them in a library!
dj*

Heidi Maiers · 07-01-2004, 03:29 PM

Debra,
Congrats on your recent claim to fame in doggie world. It's scary to think, but I am starting to believe that there is a bigger market for dog portraiture rather than people. My highest paying commissions this year have been for dogs.
Anyway, looking at the close-ups of this portrait really makes me want to give painting a try. I just love your loose, yet well placed style. Very realistic, yet unmistakably a painting. You rock!