“Elsinore”, oil on linen panel, 36 x 48 inches. This is the largest portrait that I have made to date and was inspired by my recent trip to the Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, where I saw an exhibit of large-scale portraits by Eugen Varzic, a Croatian artist. There is something about scale that takes your breath away like a Chuck Close, who died last week. This painting took me exactly two weeks to complete and one week was almost entirely dedicated to painting the hair. The level of detail and the sheer size of this painting made painting the hair simultaneously a tedious, enjoyable, and the most challenging part of this painting. I used all my favorite blues in the background and made the dress out of my absolute favorite blue, Prussian blue, which contrasts well with my signature in light Sevre blue. I typically like blues in my background for portraits because it complements and contrasts well with the warmer skin tones. My two favorite skin tones that really brought life to the painting without making it look overly abstract were Holbein’s brilliant pink and Williamsburg’s Montserrat orange (a creamsicle-like color). Ellie loved how I captured her green-gray eyes. The last two days were spent deepening contrast, glazing, adjusting tones, and making minor corrections, plus adding an earring. This will be framed with a black metallic floating frame. Wish you could see the original because my photos simply cannot justly capture the portrait in its color and scale. #portraitpaintingart #portraitarts #oilportrait #oilportraitpainting #oilplainting #oulpaintingart #drlam #lfpdallas #facialplasticsurgeon #dallas (at Dallas, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTKktV5r5vX/?utm_medium=tumblr
