I am interested in portraying a sense of my subject's inner life as well as drawing their physical likeness. Therefore, I prefer to work from life rather than from photographs. I keep the background simple and informal.
Completing a portrait usually requires four to six sittings in my studio. I can schedule sittings for weekdays or weekends during daylight hours.
Generally, young children sit for 45 minutes; teenagers and adults sit for up to one and a half hours. Smaller children need to be able to sit quite still for about five minutes at a time and hold the general pose for longer periods. They can listen to music or stories on tape.
I work in large (25” x 19”) pastel and small (16” x 12”) oil formats. If more than one work is commissioned, I can relate the portraits to each other in scale and color. |