Samantha

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Simply Great!

Do you prime your canvas yourself?

[Marvin Mattelson]

Erika, Tom and Claudemir, thanks, I really appreciate your feedback.

Tom, I think that some of those dead artists have set the bar ridiculously high. Today I just received a book I ordered on Joseph DeCamp. Wow! Was he ever good. He was considered the top portrait artist in America during the first part of the 20th Century. I had seen his last painting at the museum in Atlanta and was blown away.

Claudemir, I used Claussens SP13. I'm too impatient to lead prime my own and wait until it cures.

[Marvin Mattelson]

The color was pretty darn close, but I still tweaked it a bunch. I never copy color exactly. I try to enhance the effects I see as relating to the scene I'm creating. If you would compare the complexion of a Bouguereau painting to a real person his color looks wrong. But in the context of his paintings it's so incredibly lifelike.

For whatever reason I cannot for the life of me reproduce the subtle color changes I paint when I shoot my work, so what you're seeing here is missing a lot of nuance.

I used the Alkyd primed Claessens (is this the right spelling). It has a little more tooth than the DP13 and I like the way it grabs the paint. I have still not found my perfect canvas so I'm always trying different ones. This is the canvas I use for my demos and when doing alla prima (one shot) portraits.

This portrait was actually commissioned as an alla prima painting but was not done from life due to her age. When I finished the alla prima stage I felt that I wanted to keep refining her face and just I kept painting for another couple of days. Thus was born my new genre...The Portrait Vignette, which combines elements of both my finished and more spontaneous approaches.

[Tom Edgerton]

Marvin--

We probably have the same DeCamp book. He's one of my faves. "The Blue Mandarin Coat" at the High Museum in Atlanta IS gorgeous.

Best--TE

[Rob Sullivan]

If you're gonna quote movie stars, Marvin - let me quote that estimable thespian Keanu Reeves: "Whoa..."

Correct me if I'm wrong (has that ever happened?), but this is a benchmark piece. I just love the juxtaposition of your highly polished style against the spontaneous look of the underpainting. A perfect foil, if you will.

I also think it's terrific that this is the great-granddaughter of your subject in Sylvia at Seventeen. Generations of Mattelson portraits! Pretty cool, no?

You had best enter this in a few portrait society juried shows. I predict Prix de Rome!

Best,

Rob

[Holly Snyder]

She is beautiful Marvin, this is one of my favorites of your paintings.

You have made a terrible mistake. What's the worst that could have happened? Six months at Ellis Island? Well worth the price paid.

I don't know Mike... I was just at Ellis Island two days ago, and have newfound respect for people who made it to (and through) there. It was interesting looking at their photo portrait wall of faces from around the globe.

Anyway, thanks for posting this Marvin.

Holly

[Marvin Mattelson]

Thanks Rob, the Prix de Rome would be nice (four years in Rome!?!), but I don't think that's an option these days. Maybe the Booby Prize is more like it?

Holly, I'm glad you like it. I too am exploring ways to get looser and not sell out my soul. It worked in this case anyway. I think Mike was referring to Rikers Island when he suggested Ellis Island. Rikers is a prison while Ellis is where the immigrants were processed.

[Jeanine Jackson]

Let me add my small voice to this chorus of accolades, Marvin. I am most impressed by the fleshy skin that has all the freshness and translucence of youth. I want to kiss that face!
Your #1 fan in CT,
Jeanine

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Absolutely stunning!

[David Draime]

Marvin,

Just reading through the threads and I realized I had not yet paid homage - publicly anyway....all I want to say is that of the 2200 plus hits on this thread, about 500 of them are mine!

David