Portrait Painting and drawings
Even after painting so many portraits, I still wonder why I paint portraits at times.
All the awkwardness and doubt disappears, however, when I am painting again, in front of a sitter, surrounded by pleasing smell of oil paint.
So to keep things simple, I strive to paint one more portrait, and then another, just like placing one foot after another—constantly moving forward.
The total amount of outstanding borrowing by the U.S. Government, as of May 27, 2023, is $31.47 Trillion dollars.
There has been months negotiation about raising the debt-ceiling, and apparently, if the government can’t agree on raising it, it will cause—basically—a financial meltdown.
A few of my paintings will be exhibited from 13 February 2023 through 18 February 2023 at the Art Students League of New York.
This exhibition includes paintings by students of Sharon Sprung.
This time around, one of the paintings for the show was chosen based on a poll on Instagram 🙂
And, here is a collection of my recent paintings that were considered for this exhibition.
The Art Students League of New York
Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery, 2nd Floor
215 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
February 13 — February 18, 2023
Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday, 10 am–9 pm
Saturday, 10 am–3 pm
Okay, it’s that time again when I match my latest portrait with what’s going on in the world! As I am wrapping up this portrait, the inflation in the U.S. is at 8.6%.
As we have been hearing, the annual Inflation rate for the United States for the 12 month ending in May 2022 has been the worst since 1981. As you know, many of the leading economists were wrong about inflation in 2021–they had said the inflation would be transitory. So, when the same economists say things are going to be better, we have to decide for ourselves if they are telling the truth or saying what we want to hear.
Title: Bird Nest
Dimension: 12″ x 9″ inches
Medium: Oil on Canvas
The fact is that the gas price has been skyrocketing in the recent months. If the cost of gas doesn’t come down, the inflation will likely to rise.
With the increasing inflation, I will likely have to increase the cost of my paintings, but for now I am going to keep prices at pre-inflation level. I added a few new paintings up for sale, so please be sure to check them out!
This ‘Portrait of Johnny’ is my tribute to Diego Velázquez (1599-1660).
Earlier this year, when NYC shutdown due to Omicron, I copied The ‘Portrait of a Little Girl’ by Diego Velázquez (1599-1660). I had never seen the original, but there were good enough references online, so I gave it a go.
Coincidentally, soon after I completed the master copy, I got around to see the original painting! The Hispanic Society of America pulled together a special exhibition which included this painting by Diego. Yay!
Seeing the original painting helped me see how Diego might have painted.
I didn’t get around to finish this painting and it now looks somewhat ‘unfinished’ as the “Portrait of Little Girl’.
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
― Michelangelo Buonarroti
There has been 83 Million+ confirmed COVID cases in the U.S. as of this month. And, the number of deaths has surpassed 1 Million.
When the number of COVID cases were about 4 Million, I had executed a self-portrait to enter a competition. It wasn’t a finished portrait, but a loosely painted composition.
This week, I decided to dust off the same portrait and work on it again. Working on the portrait from 2 years ago has allowed me to look back at all the stuff that has happened. I hope all of you that are reading this can also reflect on all that you have accomplished, and give yourself a pad on the back for living through one of the strangest time of our human history.
Title: This moment
Oil on Canvas
12×9 Inches
This is a color study for a new pose that started this week. Many of my color studies are more detailed than traditional studies, but executing these studies helps me tryout various combination of color mixes.
When all things fall apart, there is only one thing left to do—very carefully, put everything on the palette on the canvas.
Je — May 18, 2022
For all the times that I painted portraits, I found 2 ways to measure proportions: (1) use a stick, ruler, brush or similar device, or (2) simply start painting.
Measuring and calculating the proportions of a portrait is important—it will make or break a painting.
The problem for measuring occurs when models move—this is very natural—the measurements that were perfect seconds or days ago can be totally out of place.
So, for me, measuring too much takes away the experience of painting from life, so I don’t measure much. Once I am happy with the head size and the overall placement of the figure, it’s time for my army of brushes and paints to start the battle.
This is not to say that I don’t measure. I am constantly measuring while I am painting, but much of it based on judging whether or not I am able to capture the likeness.
So I learned much about how Diego Velázquez painted by copying this painting of his. undoubtedly, in my own opinion, Diego was one of the best painters from those that I admire.
As you can imagine, this master copy is quiet different from the original in many ways. The main difference is probably the way this was painted using more of traditional oil painting techniques than the way Diego executed the original. Second, my version probably has slightly bigger figure (face) than the original, and finally, for my last working sessions, I made numerous changes as I see fit, deviating from the copies of the original. Besides, there is no good reason to keep copying from inaccurate copies.
I suppose I can get this to look very close to the original, but I going to move on with other projects for now.
Once the Hispanics Society reopens, and when I can see the original painting once again, I may make additional changes.
I started this week with the above portrait study of Steve, followed by a composition study below.
All was progressing as usual until the mid-week when many institutions began closing down to slow the spread of Omicron. At the moment, many planned sessions for this pose are canceled, so I will continue this project in 2022.
2021 has proven to be a year to be remembered. While there has been yet another massive outbreak of Covid-19, I am optimistic that we all will improve in the coming months.
PS: Congratulations to those who had a chance to visit the Art Students of League of New York and purchased The Little Red Lighthouse and a portrait from my Soundkeepers collection.