Portrait painting is having its 20th Century heyday and an American woman artist living on this Italian island is cashing in on three continents. This abstract painter says that art has reached this point where a person can earn much from doing it. The human aspect and visage is again the focus.
Instead of photographs, more and more universities and hospitals are going back to painted portraits of their presidents and board chairmen. Those rolling in wealth and fame view portraits as a symbol of their fortune and heritage for their children.
She has done work throughout Western Europe, the United States and South Africa, where her husband used to work several years before. Though she has a studio where she can do her painting, she often does the painting at the home of her subject.
The artist says that it takes her three weeks to paint a portrait in a studio, during which she might have four to seven sittings. However, five days are all she needs if she does the portrait on location. Whether she paints at home, on an estate, or on a farm, the quality of her painting gets affected. She is affected by the way of life and home the portrait would belong to, so she sometimes arranges a meeting and a meal with her subject.
The portrait of one actress was so good the actress decided to use it for the cover of her autobiography. The makers of a famous line of greeting cards, the makers of tire and rubber, and the makers of a fa mouse tomato ketchup of 57 varieties fame are among the clients whose portraits she has already made. She has made portraits of even a tribal chief in Nigeria and a Dominican monk. When her portraits spread around the world, she became so famous she didn't expect commissions coming from certain people.
Although she doesn't flatter her subjects openly, she does paint them in the most flattering light. Negotiating is involved when it comes to costume. She meets the wishes of those who want to be seen in their portraits wearing university robes or their favorite dresses. Her personal preference for the portrait is an informal dress, such as a skirt and sweater. Her subjects are given advice on the makeup to use and are instructed to make their hairdos at least a day old.
While she paints, she talks to her subjects and leads them to talk back the same way. Observing the movement of her lips allows her to find the smile for the portrait. If a person is bored, it can be easily seen in the portrait. Clients make decisions of the how much of their body is included in the portrait and whether or not they want to pose formally after seeing the book of photographs that show the artist's work.
There is a growing popularity for ink, oil, and tempera in sepia tones as well. Sometimes she does several sketches of a person on one canvas, the most detailed sketch being in the foreground, which is a charming way of portraying children. The result resembles a page from a sketch book. 20 years ago, her career began when a gallery owner insisted on having a self portrait that the artist made hung during a two woman show in New York. This part of the show was the best of all.
Author Resource:
We hope you like our article on oil painted portraits and the broader topic of paintings.To find out more about paintings visit famous oil painting artists .
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")