Painting Your Story In A Life Vignette
Because my paintings feature people, they may be loosely characterized as portraits. However, mine is a non-traditional style of portraiture. Some are listed here.
Lifestyle Portraiture
In a lifestyle portrait a person (or group) is shown their everyday environment, often doing ordinary things. They are not “posed” in the traditional sense. Rather, they are seen in a “day in the life" activity.
For example, in a lifestyle family portrait I will capture the unique and often subtle interaction between your family members. By doing so, I create a poignant painting that reflects your intimate family dynamics.
Environmental Portraiture
An environmental portrait depicts a person (or group) including their surroundings. It shows people in their natural element and gives context to their story by virtue of the significance of the location shown.
In an environmental portrait, I intentionally use the surrounding space to express something specific about you (or your group), using visual clues to inform the viewer of the your work, interests, or a life event.
Candid Portraiture
A candid portrait is intended to appear as if the subject is unaware of my painting their image. As such, candid portraits are great for capturing your natural expression and personality. They can be set in public places, like a park or beach, or in a more personal space, such as within your home.
When painting your candid portrait, my objective is to make it appear that my painting you could have been an impromptu occurrence, as if created “on the fly”.
Wedding & Engagement Portraiture
Wedding portraits typically feature the bride (or groom) alone or the couple together on their wedding day. They can be candid or posed, and usually showcase you in your wedding day best.
Your wedding portrait can be loose and gesturally executed, or crisp and literally rendered, depending on your wishes.
My focus when painting your wedding portrait is the accurate depiction the your image. I am referring not simply to your wedding attire. But, capturing the expressions which reveal both your individual emotions and the love bond between you and your spouse.
Painting al fresco on a (very) warm September day, Spain 2022
Similarly, Engagement Portraits can be either candid or posed, per your preference. Almost any photo of you and your spouse-to-be may serve as the reference picture for an engagement portrait. The one criteria is that it must show your unique connection with each other.
To begin the process, I will ask you to gather one or more photos of you enjoying each other’s company. Then, utilizing the selected reference image, I will create a painting that reveals the inscrutable bond between you and your spouse-to-be.
Family/Group Portraiture
Group portraits depict a group of three or more people itogether such as: families, friends, students, teams, performance groups, etc.
My challenges in creating your group portrait are what makes them dynamic and captivating for the viewer. Allow me to explain. .
From my perspective, a well executed group portrait is most evocative when each person’s temperament is captured just as it was expressed at that moment in time. Additionally, a group portrait is a unique chance to portray genuine interactions across a number of people.
For these reasons group portraiture poses both a challenge and an exciting opportunity for me as a painter, and why group portraits are on e of my favorite styles of portraiture.