Museum Director

[Richard Monro]

Alex,

I love your sense of humor. That lithotrite even gives me the horrors.

This painting seems more painterly than many of your others, Was this a conscious choice? I am assuming that you had to work from a prior photo you were not able to set up yourself ( not always easy) and i imagine you just had a hoot deciding what to include in the composition. I really like the way you tell a story.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Richard,

I did leave the background more painterly, because I wanted it to be a little shadowy and mysterious. I thought the figure was just about up to my usual level of detail--but maybe I am not aware of what you are seeing.

The reference for her head came from a video. I froze the frame and worked from a print. The trouble was that it cut off the entire top of her head from her eyebrows up. She had the wrong hairstyle, so I borrowed a hairstyle and head top from another photo. The only trouble was, that photo did not show her in the same light so I had to invent the shine and color of the hair.

After I found the head reference (which had a nice light/shadow pattern, by the way, but was missing a lot of color and value information), I created a body by using two different models. I photographed them with an off-camera flash set up to create the same exact light/shadow pattern on the faces, so the face and body would be in the same light. One of the models was wearing Ms. Worden's jacket and earrings and holding the lithotrite. However she had to wear latex gloves to hold the lithotrite. The other model I chose because her height, figure, and hands were pretty close to Ms. Worden's. I made sure my angle (height) in relation to her head was the same as that in the "head shot" reference. To do this I had the model stand on two books to make her the same height, 5' 9". This model held an "instrument" jerry-rigged out of two screwdrivers. Both models wore black jackets and cream scoop-neck blouses, and black skirt or pants. (I chose to paint the skirt.)

The stance of the models, the tilt of the head, and the way they held the lithotrite, were taken from the videos of Ms. Worden on David Letterman. I watched the tapes of her very carefully and tried to have the models imitate her gestures and the way she moved.

[Marvin Mattelson]

This is my favorite of yours. Well done!

[Garth Herrick]

Originally Posted by Marvin Mattelson

This is my favorite of yours. Well done!

Me too!

Alex, this is stupendous! When I visited your studio and saw you at the beginning of this project, I just shook my head in disbelief than anyone could pull this off. You showed me your disparate reference images with the cut-out hair and masking tape. Not only did you pull it off, but it is arguably your most moving portrait, and a very successful one. You put a lot of humanity into this one. I love her LIFE despite the fact it's posthumous, one would never detect that; and I love your sense of humor in the interplay of the characters. Superb!

Garth

[Carlos Ygoa]

Fantastic work, Alex!
The efforts you exerted to create this piece show your level of professionalism and you have set an example for all of us and for that we are very grateful. You have combined the "technician" part of our work with your usual high level of artistry and the result is a posthumous portrait that brings the sublect "back to life", as it were, which is the ultimate aim of such a portrait.

Congratulations!

[Debra Rexroat]

Incredibly personal. I too like the sense she is mid-sentence, which is a lovely way to handle a posthumous portrait.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Thanks, All!

Richard, I can't help but thinking how it is always better (incomparable) to have a living person in front of you when you are painting them! But I don't want to give the false impression that I had to work from a tiny snapshot with flat lighting. The videos provided me with some decent possibilities.

Thomasin, I like your point:

"Art is a privileged career, but it is not a society-supported psychotherapy." I've always felt that, If you express your feelings or ideas in a way that can only be understood by you on a personal level, or can only be understood if you explain what you're trying to do, then there is an ingredient missing. Art (in my opinion) needs to be both a personal expression and a way to touch others, to say something that is understood by the person looking at it. Moreover, I would want the viewer to enjoy the experience of looking at it.

Garth, I knew you were worried that I wasn't going to pull it off. All I can say is: it may have looked like a mess of disparate pieces, but it was all in my head!

Carlos, I'm so glad you feel I've brought her back to life--my ultimate goal, as you pointed out.

Debra, I wish I could play the videos and show people on the forum how expressive Gretchen's face was. Potential energy is a powerful thing in art.

[Judy Simons]

I love the movement. The figures are all in motion to me ... very nice indeed. Congratulations on a wonderful painting.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Judy,

Thanks very much! To be able to imply motion in a painting that stays still is a major goal for me, so I feel very honored that you feel this way.

[Julie Deane]

She's not the only one with a sense of humor, Alex!

I love the shimmering, moving light - at least, that is how it reads to me. The hands and instrument are done so well. And that mouth is about to move and say something interesting, I am sure.