Steve
 

This is my latest portrait, of my husband, Steve. It's 66" x 40", not quite life-size, though with the frame it does seem to take up a lot of space!

What an interesting portrait. It does what I think is most important for a portrait to do and that is give a clear picture of what the person is all about. Everything from the clothing to the stance to the cat to the articles in the background make me feel as if I really know this man.

Alexandra this is wonderful and enchanting. I love that the little black cat is looking up at his face. All the detail in the room is superb. (The fish! The sketches in the frames! the coaster on the desk behind his hand!) It is wonderful to see a relatively loose style creating so much detail! Once again you've created a painting full of meaning and warmth and personality.
(Thank you so much for you suggestions on my wip!)

Alex,

This is just marvelous! I love the style, as well as all the items included (and so softly rendered). The cat is wonderful. Another Siamese? This one looks like a sealpoint. Beautifully rendered!

I hope this one will be in your show. :D

I agree with all that's been said, this is inspiring! I especially do like that cat.

Congrats on an amazing work!

Well, I've been agonizing over what people would say about this one, because I really put my heart into it. My husband has been making excuse after excuse about why he won't pose for a portrait, until finally I simply announced, "Okay, I've got this idea and I need you to pose." I think my years of contemplating how to paint him resulted in an attempt to put it all into one. Who knows if I'll get another chance?

Michele, I appreciate your comments so much, especially coming from someone so talented and accomplished. That was my intent exactly, so I am glad it came though in the painting. It's funny that, although I intentionally tried to communicate certain things, I also felt the painting kind of taking over and doing it through me.

Brenda, thank you so much for your appreciation of the details, and for appreciating the feeling aspect. That is always so important to me when I am painting. As for your WIP, I'm always glad to be of some help.

Molly, Yes, it will be in the show. The cat is a sable Burmese. Our other cat is also a Burmese, but a different color.

Lacey, wow, I am so honored to think I can be inspiring to someone.

Thanks so much to all of you!

Here's an extreme closeup which I couldn't fit on the original post:

Alexandra,
I do have a question. Did you do this all from a photo or did you get your subject to sit (stand) for you for part of it?
I admire the consistency of the light on the subject and in the room. Is the light exactly as you saw it or did you adjust the light in some areas to work with the composition?

Hi Brenda,

Usually I do a color study from life if the person is willing or able to give me about an hour or so. I take photos and create the composition from a combination of the idea in my head, thumbnail sketches, and photos. In this case it was a hot day and my husband was breaking out in a sweat, though the air conditioner was on. I think it was the afternoon and the sun was heating up the room. I felt sorry for him, so I let him off the hook and painted him from the photos, which happened to have turned out extremely well. If I have a really good reference I can work from the photos because I have done so many portrait sketches from life, I know what I'm looking for and how to interpret the references. As I was painting the room, there were passages where I felt I did not have enough information of detail or color, so I did those parts from life.

The color is generally what I see, but at the same time I'm always interpreting and making choices and adjustments. I don't think a work of art should ever be simply a literal rendering of life. It puts things together from life into a meaningful whole. I always think of it as being like a writer choosing descriptive words or not writing every word of the conversation. Not to get all philosophical on you ( a bad habit), but you could say the color is derived from a direct observation of life.

This is what happens when you ask me a simple question!

Alex

Dear Alex,

I have been privileged by you to preview this wonder in progress. I have been to this room, introduced to your husband, and can assert this representation is the verity of Steve. It's perfect. I want to reach in and touch the train and pet your cat. Within this canvas, there is a believable sense of atmosphere, depth, and presence to everything lovingly rendered. Well done!

Something about this portrait reminds me of the engaging qualities of Charles Wilson Peale's "Staircase Group", of 1795, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It's a favorite trompe l'oeil example of a portrait.

Garth

What a beautiful portrait Alex.
I like the brush strokes very much, not only this, the lighting, the colors and I love the way you managed the greys and blues.
Congrats.

Alex, I love the fresh, painterly, modern feel of this painting. I really like the concept of putting portrait subjects in amidst their "stuff" and you've done this very well here. The gaze of the cat is a nice touch compositionally, too.

Alex, it's so great to wake up to something like this! What a fantastic portrait. I am convinced if I ran into your husband at the hardward store for example, I would immediately know him. Do you think a "hello, Steve" from a total stranger would throw him off? Not only is this such a warm and personal portrait, it's a portrait I bet many of us can relate to. You could be my neighbor! I am impressed by the undertaking this was. It is a rather large painting, loaded with interesting details. In spite of those details, your husband remains the focal point. Regardless of where I look in the painting, I end up back at Steve. I'm impressed. Such charm. You really have an incredible gift for introducing us to people through your paintings. Wow.

I'm overwhelmed by all your comments. Thank you so much!

Garth, you really do have a knack of making people float a few feet above the ground. Imagine my painting being compared to a C.W. Peale! Not just any Peale, the very one that I, as a kid, would race to see first when my mother took me to the art museum! It remains one of my favorite paintings, not just because it looks so real, and has an interesting story, and has steps attached to it, but also because the boys look so nice and attractive and friendly, like you want to (and could actually) talk to them.

Bonfim, you mentioned all the things--brushstrokes, lighting, color--that I've been working so hard on for the past few years. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you approve! Sometimes I feel as though I work and work on some aspect of my painting and there is no real progress. So thanks!

Linda, that "modern feel" is an interesting thing. To me, it seems that traditional or academic realism defines portraiture more narrowly than the other "branches" of realism. Not that that's bad or anything. But I've always wanted to paint some kind of modern theme with a traditional feeling. Or maybe it's a traditional theme with a modern feeling? I'm all confused. It's the melding of the two that excites me artistically. Thanks for seeing that, because often I feel that both modernists and traditionalists look at my work and think I've missed the boat somehow.

Lisa, yes, Steve is very friendly and easy to talk to. He probably would say hi in the hardware store. I really appreciate what you said. The idea for the portrait came to me after I realized that most full-length portraits are formal. Since I like to push the envelope a little, I decided to try an informal one. Steve was a perfect subject because he never gets dressed up unless he is forced to. If you tell him "nice casual" he wears his better pair of jeans. Then I imagined how an informal portrait might look, and this composition popped into my head.

Alexandra,

Your work is truly inspiring! Your compositions, the light, the looseness of your strokes, everything is just incredible. I love how you are really bringing portraiture into the present, so people can look back and really see how people were today. I don

Thank you so much, Carolyn! It's funny to think that people 100 years from now might look back and use our portraits as primary sources for what life was like at the turn of the Millenium.

I really like the closeups, on my screen, the contrast and detail is better than the full picture. Would you mind posting a full one after adjustments, at your convenience of course?

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Hope this is better.
 

Jimmie,

Sorry you had a hard time seeing the full portrait. It looks okay on my screen, so I'm not exactly sure how to tweak it, but I have heightened the contrast a bit. One problem is that I am working from slides (taken by a pro) rather than a digital camera, and even if I scan them at a high resolution, there is a limit to the clarity. I'm also posting some semi-closeups of different areas which I hope will help.

This is just beautiful and his personality shines through - congratulations! What a treasure.

Personality, hmmm. . . . I always wonder "am I getting it?" as I am painting. Sometimes I find myself smiling idiotically. I'm not sure if I am smiling at myself or at the person I'm painting. Maybe I'm trying to elicit a response from the person. What if I caught myself doing this as I was demonstrating in front of people? Anyway, I always know when I've "got it" when the person looks back at me. There's this moment of recognition: Yeah, that's Steve! So I'm glad you see the personality in it.

Anyway, thank you, Kim! It means a lot to me.

I'm sure that you don't need any more congratulations on this lovely painting. Two things only: Your Steve looks like the guy on the corner who organizes the street-hockey games for all the little kids. Also, you have so inspired us. Your wonderful paintings and eloquent lessons, so generously shared...I want to start painting people in their legitimate environment, too. *I think I can I think I can I think I can*

Thanks, Janet

Thank you so much, Janet! I'm honored that you would take the time to write such complimentary things about the portrait. It's always nice to hear. Yes, my husband is that kind of guy, even though street hockey isn't one of his skills, so I'm glad it came across.

I've been watching your progress in your paintings of your son's girlfriend. She has a fascinating face; I can see why you are driven to capture her likeness. The last portrait you did (or maybe you are still working on it) is lovely.