portrait

portrait  demo by Azhar Inamdar 

I love portraits. People, especially faces, to me, are a fascinating subject. So expressive and varied—there is emotion and character and life in every subject.

First, what is a portrait? The extremely open-minded among us will argue that any photo can be a portrait—face not required. A hand, a wisp of clothing, a musical instrument. To each his own. For me, a portrait is a painting  that would allow me to recognize the person depicted if I met them on the street. A face is an essential ingredient.

But beyond that, the possibilities are limitless. Do you include the environment and the subject’s body? Just head and shoulders? Profile? There is no wrong way to make a portrait. But the goal in portraiture should be more than just reproduction of a person’s features. We’re not making mug shots or identification badges after all. Ultimately you want to make a painting that makes a connection with the viewer.

This is a wonderful portrait by Azhar Inamdar. He indeed captures his subject. And so brave to do it publicly!

To begin he applied a warm grayish tone to the canvas. Used a large old brush to scrub a mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna onto the canvas. Wiped it down with a clean rag.  The effect is a slightly warm (in color) surface that he painted on allowing us to judge colors more accurately

This was originally a 2 hour session. This particular oil painting was done in the “Alla Prima” method which simply means that this painting was completed in one session as opposed to the artists normal way of working in glazes.