"Doris"

[Virginia Branch]

Jim, you must be so pleased with this portrait! I think it is one of your best so far. At least, it is one of my favorites. The colors are very rich and the composition works very well.

Congrats on a beautiful portrait!

[Cynthia Daniel]

I know I've already posted, but please humor me. She looks very intelligent and wise, as though she has much to give to the world and does; lots of love in her heart; always interested and inquisitive. I could imagine her music students coming knocking on her door years later...unannounced, because they felt so comfortable...just to say hello.

Have I stretched it too far Jim?

You obviously have a real winner here. Did you enter it into any of the competitions?

[Jim Riley]

Cynthia,

Yes, you have described her well. She has maintained contact with many in our community (Lancaster, PA) and knows many people within the arts, music and entertainment business. It is not uncommon for her to have taught or coached two or three generations within the same family.

After a few minor changes in the background I intend to submit to several regional and national painting competitions.

[Cynthia Daniel]

Great, Jim! And, the fact that I have described her well only means that you have captured her very well!

[Tarique Beg]

Jim

WOW!!!. I really like the style in which you paint. I wish I could do even half of that one day. Many painters blend everything (I have that tendency too), but here I can see every masterful brush stroke - WOW!! again.

I'm curious, once one reaches this level where you can execute a portrait with quick powerful strokes does it take much less time?

Tarique

[Jim Riley]

Tarique,

I don't know whether or not it takes less time for me to paint in this style. The end effect tends to look as though each stroke was sure and deliberate but I can tell you that a lot of time is spent building, changing and adjusting the color and value balances that set up those final patches of color. When I was in art school an instructor encouraged me to paint this way because I tended to get bogged down in detail. He suggested that I should try this technique as an exercise to loosen up and pointed out that I could always come back and smooth things out if I preferred. I liked the results and continued to paint as I do now. I blend often when called for. Again, the end result (the whole) is more important than method or technique. All in all I think the time it takes would be the same.

Your question of time occurs to me when I see Karin's paintings and wonder if the glazing process (which I have never attempted) takes more time than direct methods.

I have attached a head detail from a portrait of a past president of a local corporation. I had to shoot from the left side of the painting to avoid reflection and hope you will be able to see the nice combination of brush strokes, smooth passages, and areas lost in the shadow without the artist losing the form. I especially liked the treatment of the rimless glasses.

I learned from Ray Kinstler at the recent PSA seminar that this painting is by Johansson (spelling might be wrong).

[Lon Haverly]

What a wonderful masterpiece! The colors, the composition, the pose, it is all so wonderful. How did I miss this?

Lon