Portrait after Velasquez
 

This is a copy of a detail of a Velasquez painting of Queen Marie-Therese of France. I did it about a year and a half ago. It's 10" x 14", oil on canvas.


Saatchi Gallery Painting contest

I am curious and hope you don't take offense, but what interested you in doing one of Velasquez not so flattering looking subjects? I would love to hear what you have learned from this experience.

Thomasin,

You captured a very good likeness in this study. You have also been successful in imitating the economy of technique of Velazquez.
I was fortunate to see the original in a special show they had over here at the Prado a couple of years ago which featured the Spanish Portrait from El Greco to Picasso. It is a large canvas (2.3m x 1.3m), although about 25cm of the upper portion is a later addition, which features Philip IV

Yes, I agree with Carlos that it is a good likeness. Carlos the information about the painting is also very interesting. With all that splendor of a court you would never think that a artist would have to reuse a canvas.

Enzie, I just liked the lovely rich paint of Vel

Carlos I think this is a smaller portrait of the infanta which only pictures the head. It was here at the last Velasquez show.

Thomasin I saw this just now (am so in arrear with my posts here) and imagine the shock when I then saw this

http://www.flowerseast.com/Originals...on=07FCKC&OL=1

AAARGHHH!

Anyway your copy is very nice, but it leaves me really curious to see the same image really painted by you as Thomasin...
:-)
Ilaria

Hey! What a good idea. You clever thing. I will do that very soon.

p.s. It is a detail of the Velasquez painting Carlos is referring to. It did have the picture of Philip IV beneath.

This seems to apply here...

It is a shame that reproductions of paintings can not capture the impasto brush works. I am reading about the work of Ilya Repin and apparently he too was a great fan of Velasquez, because of the way Velasquez was able to manipulate lots of paint. Apparently Repin has works that close up are not recognizable due to the heavy brushwork, yet from afar seem to be extremely detailed paintings. Looking at the reproductions in this book you would never guess that.

Thanks for answering a curious minded person's question! :)