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.
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!
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.
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.