Tom, Oil on Canvas Panel, 20" x 16"
 

Hello, people. This is my first attempt at an alla prima portrait. It was done in three live sessions lasting a total of 5.5 hours. Thank you for the opportunity. This is my first time here.

By the way, your comments would be greatly appreciated, as I am a beginner and will use all the help I can get. See, I live in California and people here have a hard time picturing a timeless piece in their glossy shacks. Portrait painters have an uphill battle in these flatlands.

Thank you.

Gosh, an uphill battle on flatlands. I thought only we flyover lands and mountain artists had those kinds of battles.

I don't see much evidence here, or in your web page portraits, of "beginner" status. You seem to be aware of and in pretty good command of drawing, hue, value, temperature, contrast and edges. That's not a bad supply of skills.

I do wonder what's going on with his right ear, and why his shoulders are of such markedly different heights.

Very fresh and spontaneous looking and at the same time exact and resolved where needed (for example, the glasses).

Steve, I didn't mean to sound disingenuous when I called myself a beginner. I AM a beginner since I painted my first portrait less than a year ago. That's when I decided that painting is what I should have been doing all along. Now I'm trying to catch up.

I noticed the shoulder inconsistency but I felt that it played a role in calculated imbalance. Since you pointed it out, however, I feel I must reevaluate that decision.

By the way, why don't I see any entries in the Member Portrait from Life section? Thank you for your reply.

I've been training in my garage since November 2001, after I stumbled into a book by Sanden. I started by trying to follow his color recipes and have been studying the language of portrait painting since.

Peter,

Thank you for the challenging comments. Interesting to me is your suggestion to spend an hour looking at the Rembrandt. I did exactly that. And at the Met. And at the Norton Simon. Steal from the rich is my motto.

I have thrown away that book, so to speak. I am thankful to Mr. Sanden because his book was an invitation that I am glad I accepted. Beyond that, the path to developing one's own language is a lonely one (with the exception of the occasional Rembrandt pilfering, of course).

My hope is that the lack of concentration to which you refer is really lack of experience in my part. I am tentative because I cannot yet visualize the finished effect before I start. There is so much to be aware of and I am running in the dark. Steal from the rich.

I should clarify the Sanden connection. I saw one of his books last year and started trying to mix colors as he suggests (and sells). I quickly realized that if I wanted to learn color mixing I would have to do it in the palette. His influence ends there.

I have since looked at all sources I could reach, going so far as to have participated in the ASOPA conference in New York early this year, at which time I had the opportunity to meet Sanden himself, as well as Richard Schmid, and see Schmid's excellent book, Alla Prima.

Regarding the style searching thing, I entirely agree with your view. I am trying to avoid building a box around myself, comfortable as that might make you feel at times. I have plunged head first into this adventure and continue to dive down, toward a possible center.

The painting of Tom was done in a little over 5 hours. The goal here was to try to convey the sitter's physical and emotional presence in the more direct and honest way possible. To me it was a tour de force.

I can

Steven,

I didn't exactly throw Sanden away. In fact, I recently had the opportunity to see the portrait of Dr. David Alexander at the Pomona Colleges, in Southern California, and I, too, would be proud to have arrived at such a lucid set of solutions. I will always be thankful for the fact that his old book gave me the original spark to get started.

I also mentioned Schmid earlier. His book, Alla Prima, I have devoured whole. It has been an eye opener for me, although he would insist that squinting is the right way to look at one's subject.

Squinting is indeed an "eye opener".

You're learning all the secrets early on.