This concludes my year-long biweekly studio blog. Thanks for your positive response to the details of my portrait process, inspiration and career achievements. If you are landing on this page for the first time, I invite you to browse the posts below to learn about my lifelong passion for portraiture.
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On the Easel
Painted in oil on linen panel, this portrait study measures 5.25 x 7". The final 36 x 48" portrait is currently on my easel. My portrait sitter is an elegant lady who is accompanied by her loyal terrier companion. Their natural pose fell in a striking composition. Exceptionally stylish, she sat for me at over 90 years of age. Known to scour clothing boutiques for vintage treasures, her style sense makes for a fantastic painting exercise in textures on the larger canvas. Her beaded necklace strands, chiffon scarf and metallic head wrap offset her wool suit and dog's soft coat. However, at the scale of this preliminary portrait study, such details must be reserved as flat shapes to emphasize the greater composition as a whole.
Dr. Arthur Kleinman Harvard Portrait Encore Ceremony
In a previous blog post, I detailed my portrait sittings with notable Harvard Professor Arthur Kleinman. First unveiled in Boston at Harvard’s Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, the portrait now hangs in the University's new LEED-certified Tozzer Anthropology Building in Cambridge, MA. Shown at right is a moment from that encore unveiling ceremony. Also shown is the 5.75 x 7.75” preparatory head study of Dr. Kleinman that I painted from life in his office during one of our initial sittings. Such oil studies are a useful reference tool for me back in the studio while working on the larger portrait, as their immediacy helps capture the likeness and personality of my sitter.
John Singer Sargent
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)
In my mind, no artist is more skilled in the bravura manner of painting than American painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). Known for his bold, precise, economic brushwork, Sargent's oil paintings are simply breathtaking. His drawings and watercolors seem just as effortless. However, such results came from great deliberation, as Sargent was known to repeatedly scrape away his attempts until satisfied.
Sargent was born in Florence, Italy in 1856 to American parents. He studied briefly in Florence before continuing his studies in Paris with Carolus-Duran at the École des Beaux Arts. He established himself as a premiere portrait painter of the upper class, often traveling between England and America for business. His U.S. commissions include the official White House portrait of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Here in Boston, where Sargent had strong New England roots, the city proudly maintains a heavy presence of his work at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MFA), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston Public Library, and The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Live Portrait Demonstration Weymouth Art Association
The Weymouth Art Association kindly asked me to conduct a live portrait drawing demonstration a few years ago. I was pleased to learn that the demo brought their largest event attendance of the year. Demonstrations allow me to present folks with an overview of my process. The event lasted two hours with a lecture beforehand and discussion breaks scheduled throughout. I used the three 20-minute work sessions to abbreviate a method that normally takes hours when working in the studio. To convey my approach, I: 1) established the initial placement of the three-quarter length seated figure, using the entire sheet of paper; 2) focused on the head to denote the separate shapes of light and dark, over which I; 3) introduced another level of detail and finish.
Vintage Inspiration
I'd often visit extended family at what had first been my great-grandparents' home. Because the home's vintage 1930-1960's décor remained largely unchanged, I experienced the house as a thrilling time machine. I cherished the period upholstery, furnishings and natural light. This vintage charm inspires and informs my paintings, many of which are set in the rooms of this house using live models. These photos detail the actual room interior from my painting, My Aunt's Blue Couch. I suspect that some of my relatives view these pieces as old and tired, but to me they are magical.
On the Easel
This judicial portrait study measures 5.25 x 7" and is rendered in oil on linen panel. The final 36 x 48" painting is currently on my easel. A posthumous endeavor, this portrait celebrates an accomplished fellow who immigrated to the U.S. from Italy as a young child. He worked to pass the bar examination at age 23 and later became special justice of the Municipal Court of Boston. As with my posthumous Bentley University portrait, I relied on my own visualization to compose the portrait setting and used live model stand-ins to achieve the proper drape of the robe. To suggest his story, the portrait includes the judge's favorite type of leather nailhead chair and a book entitled, "Italian-American Who's Who," in which he is prominently featured.
Jay Marsden Portrait Boston's Favorite Train Conductor
Although I painted his portrait over a decade ago, I'm most often asked about my sittings with Jay Marsden, 4th-generation conductor on the Boston railroad. Commuters relied on his warmth and quick wit to brighten their trek in and out of city. He'd often ask passengers to choose an exotic dream location he'd then announce as the train's "final stop." At Christmastime, he was known to dress as Santa Claus and hand out candy canes en route!
At the time of Jay's retirement in 2005 after 36 years of service, I was fortunate to paint his portrait and learn more about his amazing legacy. It was an honor to hold the heirloom railroad watches and keys that had belonged to his father and grandfather. Just before Jay's brother and fellow conductor Zeke passed away in 1991, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) dedicated Engine #1921 in Zeke's honor. The engine made a fitting background for Jay's portrait.
Jay is such an asset to the city of Boston, The Boston Globe ran a feature on his career to mark his retirement. I'm quite pleased to have had my portrait of him accompany that article, and am proud to consider Jay a friend. Those who feel his absence on the train should know that while Jay misses them, too, he is thoroughly enjoying his retirement!
Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones
(Bottom right photo courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. All other photos courtesy of Barbara Lehman Smith.)
One of my chief painting heroes is American painter Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones (1885-1968). Born in Baltimore, MD, she studied under William Merritt Chase at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, earning many accolades and awards. Shown above, her paintings Shoe Shop (1911) and Shop Girls (1912) demonstrate sheer mastery of bravura brushwork. She painted with great brilliance through most of her twenties, then suffered an unfortunate breakdown. She resumed her work upon her recovery years later, but her style became more raw and emotive.
I've visited The Art Institute of Chicago to see the breathtaking Shoe Shop and was deeply moved. It was the only time I have overlooked the John Singer Sargent painting in the room! I first stumbled upon a note card of Sparhawk-Jones’ work over twenty years ago and connected immediately. Since there were no web resources at the time, I worked in close written correspondence with various museums and historical commissions to learn more about this incredible artist. These sources graciously supplied me with photocopies and other reference materials regarding Sparhawk-Jones’ life and work.
Over time I have found others who also treasure her. In fact, author Barbara Lehman Smith recently published a book about Sparhawk-Jones entitled, Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones: The Artist Who Lived Twice. Learn more about Elizabeth's amazing life at www.elizabethsparhawkjones.com.
Self Portrait in Clay
Although my efforts are still exploratory, I am passionate about sculpture and was thrilled to audit such a class in graduate school. Early in my painting career I didn't have frequent access to a live model. As a solution, I sculpted small heads from my own likeness and used them as reference for my figurative paintings. Some years ago I sculpted this clay self portrait from life while looking in several mirrors. Because the head measures just 2.25" in height, I chose to simplify form and detail. If I were to continue with the figure, I'd further build up the clavicle and other anatomical landmarks. Sculpting has made me a better painter with a heightened awareness of form and modeling in my 2-D work.
White House Portrait Galleries Washington, D.C.
I was fortunate to visit the White House during my recent stay in Washington, D.C.. Showcasing the iconic building's historic art and décor, the public tour encompassed a dozen rooms on the ground and state floors. Naturally, I was drawn to the presidential portraits and those of the first ladies. Among my favorites were John Singer Sargent's portrait of Teddy Roosevelt in the East Room and Anders Zorn's portrait of William Howard Taft in the Blue Room. The Entrance Hall featured both President Bill Clinton by Simmie Lee Knox and George W. Bush by John Howard Sanden. I was most thrilled to see the portrait of Ronald Reagan by my mentor, Everett Raymond Kinstler, hanging in Cross Hall. Kinstler's portrait of Gerald Ford graces the grand staircase of the entrance foyer.
My Sketchbook Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
After graduating college years ago, I worked a stint at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A chief job perk was the opportunity to spend lunch breaks sketching directly from my favorite museum paintings. At the time, most MFA-collection portraits by my heroes John Singer Sargent and Anders Zorn were housed in the upper rotunda, just outside the library. It was my favorite location in the entire museum. Since then, I’ve returned to the MFA with my sketchbook many times. Today I’m sharing one such museum sketch of Sargent’s 1887 Mrs. Edward Darley Boit (Mary Louisa Cushing), mother of the four daughters in Sargent’s famous 1882 painting, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.
Self Portrait Study
Painted from life a few years ago, this self portrait was completed in oil on a 5 x 7 1/4” linen panel. I wanted to focus solely on the light/dark pattern and chose to paint in an open grisaille (griz-EYE). Grisaille originates from the French word gris, or gray. An open grisaille is a painting method that uses semi-transparent gray or neutral tones to establish initial shapes of light and dark (Painting in a closed grisaille carries forward with the addition of white paint to achieve an opaque, full tonal value range using monochromatic tones). Here, using a single paint value, I sought to capture accurate shapes of the light/dark pattern to achieve proper drawing proportion and likeness.