Art should appear effortless.

And that isn’t to say it should be easy to make, only that it shouldn’t show signs of struggle. 

On view finding and voice finding

A camera is every kind of artist’s best friend.  I may not be a photographer, but I still like having my camera handy.  I’ve found that taking photos is an excellent way for me to train myself to notice details as well as practice designing compositions, both skills that I need for painting.

This is not my portrait.

Or, I mean, it is my portrait, but I’m not the subject.  I painted it.  When someone talks about their portrait it’s usually of them and not by them.  Who has more right to feel possessive a portrait?  The artist who is its author, or the subject who is, in a sense, its other author? 

Imitation is NOT the highest form of flattery.

But this self-portrait by an admirer of my work has nothing to do with imitation.

One small step for a portrait…

...and one giant leap for portraiture!

Why allegorical portraiture is the SUPER GENRE

An allegorical portrait unites a sitter’s likeness with the attributes of a character from literature or history.  The best of this genre references something outside the subject as a way of revealing still more about the individual portrayed.  These paintings bring together two of our favorite things: faces and stories.

The origins of allegorical portraiture

Though a much-demeaned genre, painted portraiture has always had its defenders, in the name of both its money-making potential and its ability to tell an important story.

Validating a mimetic art

Long before the camera and its progeny, Modernism, spat on verisimilitude in painting, the Art Academies had discredited portraiture.  The special irony of the genre is that, though it can’t seem to earn respect in elitist circles, everyone is flattered to be a model.

Art I like

Portland artist William Park painted this self-portrait in 2003.  I look at his work, along with the work of many other artists, to learn more about what I do. 

The fine art of presenting your work

The promotion of your work is more important than creating excellent work. 

A Native American George Washington

A study in “inhabiting the enemy.”

I (never) made a painting from this sketch.

Well, actually, I did make the painting, but I didn’t document it, so I may as well never have made it.

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