Steve - Page 2

Linda Brandon · 09-05-2005, 03:20 PM

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.

Lisa Ober · 09-05-2005, 04:35 PM

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.

Alexandra Tyng · 09-05-2005, 07:27 PM

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.

Carolyn Ortiz · 09-06-2005, 05:16 AM

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

Alexandra Tyng · 09-06-2005, 03:12 PM

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.

Jimmie Arroyo · 09-06-2005, 10:40 PM

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?

Alexandra Tyng · 09-07-2005, 09:45 AM

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.

Kimberly Dow · 09-07-2005, 09:58 AM

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

Alexandra Tyng · 09-08-2005, 09:30 AM

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.

Janet Kimantas · 09-13-2005, 08:03 PM

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