Brush strokes

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What, exactly, is a portrait?
Here’s a quote from John Singer Sargent, considered the leading portrait painter of his generation, who created nearly 3,000 painted portraits:
“A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth.”
Famed Scottish portrait artist William Cosbie said something similar:
“I have painted many portraits of people and I have painted many portraits of trees. Trees are more tranquil to work with, never demanding, never complaining their portrait doesn't look right.”
And UK portrait artist David Cobley:
“Painting someone's portrait is, of course, an impossible task. What an absurd idea to try and distil a human being, the most complex organism on the planet, into flicks, washes, and blobs of paint on a two-dimensional surface.”
So why, when I presented the idea of a portrait class to a group of my students, did most of them respond enthusiastically with, “Yes! Sign me up!”?
I have a theory – a few of them, actually.
One is that artists are adventurers, especially those willing to take on my challenge of painting with a single, 1 ½-inch brush, and a limited palette of four colours. In my opinion, painting a portrait is arguably the biggest challenge any artist will undertake.
A second reason to do portraits is the need for connection through art. It’s strong in me, and in many other artists.
And a third is that when we paint a portrait of someone we care about, it’s an act of love.

My favorite quotes about portraiture

Adventures in painting the portrait

Confound the nose, there's no end to it!
Thomas Gainsborough
My nose isn't big. I just happen to have a very small head.
Jimmy Durante
Though many request their portrait painted, what they actually crave is to have it look like a photograph, but ... thinner.
Bernard Poulin
To the art dealer Ambroise Vollard, who changed his pose during a sitting:
You wretch! You've spoiled the pose. Do I have to tell you again you must sit like an apple? Does an apple move?
Paul Cezanne
After 115 sittings for a portrait of Ambroise Vollard:
I am not altogether displeased with the shirt-front.
Paul Cezanne
(T)he sitter … must be (amused)at all costs, or the portrait will inevitably reflect the patient misery of the subject.
John Collier
I am only interested in painting the actual person, in doing a painting of them, not in using them to some ulterior end of art.
Lucian Freud
The ultimate achievement in portraiture is to produce a great painting that happens to be a portrait; a piece of art that would be desirable to someone who is not even acquainted with the subject.
L. Steven Moppert
Seeing likeness in a portrait is to recognize the craftsman in the artist. Finding soul is to discover the artist in the craftsman.
Bernard Poulin
I know when my paintings are working because they morph from an image of a person’s features to a sense of the person’s being. You don’t see an eye: you see a soul shining out through an eye.
Nicholas Pearce

Calgary Herald Archives

Portraits were part of my job back when I was illustrations editor for the Calgary Herald. I had a facility for capturing likenesses, and for doing it quickly. So when conductor Herbert von Karajan retired, or William Golding won the Nobel Prize for literature, or Ernest Manning left the Senate, I’d whip off a portrait.
Since my days as an art journalist, I’ve focused on painting women: faces, nudes and flamenco dancers. Although they weren’t usually intended as portraits, many people saw them that way. Some would fall in love with a painting, but say they couldn’t imagine having a stranger on their walls. “Hm, I guess that would eliminate the Mona Lisa,” I’d respond.
My goal in painting anyone – portrait or not – is to capture the essence of the person – their spark – as well as their likeness.
A self-portrait is a great way for any artist to start. As your own model, you’re always available. And as art savants have pointed out, self portraits have an introspective quality that can make them some of the most powerful and interesting images in fine art. Rembrandt painted close to 100 self-portraits during his lifetime, and Frida Kahlo, around 50.
My first, back in Calgary, was done with a mirror, rather than the photo reference I use today. An unsettling (and unintended) effect was the eyes – they were walleyed, which thankfully I am not. This was because in a photo or in life, when you’re looking at someone or something, your eyes converge on the object. The effect is that the portrait appears to be looking right at you, no matter where you are in the room. But when you’re painting from your image in a mirror, each eye looks at itself. The effect is a slight wall-eyed-ness, which must be fixed (by slightly fudging what you see).
My most recent portrait was a demonstrator for a Hospice Victoria fundraiser at the Union Club. Daphne Goode, well known for her work with Shaw Cable and community causes, was emcee for the evening. I donated a portrait commission, and also painted Daphne, so bidders in the auction could see what I can do.
It’s always a challenge to do a portrait of someone in the public eye, since everyone who has seen her on TV has an idea of what she looks like – which may be based on personality traits as much as physical features. So when dinner guests arrived one evening, and asked, “Why do you have a painting of Daphne Goode over the fireplace?”, I was delighted.
The composition of a portrait is as important as the likeness. I wanted something that wasn’t a pose, and together, Daphne and I chose an image of contemplation. We liked the effect of inwardness and thoughtfulness.
As usual, I painted the complete environment, which includes lost edges and shadows everywhere. I love the effect of the figure coming out of the darkness into the light.
As the impressionists discovered, absolute definition of anything can take the magic out of a painting, and create a technical exercise. I try to give just enough detail to imply rather than to state.
I know when my paintings are working because they morph from an image of a person’s features to a sense of the person’s being. You don’t see an eye; you see a soul shining out through an eye.
So that’s what I teach at my portrait classes. The first one was February 5, 6 and 7, 2016.
Students will send me the images they want to tackle, for me to assess and crop. Then on Friday night, we’ll meet and draw, transferring the image from photo to canvas. That will leave the entire weekend free for painting.
The techniques are the same ones I always teach. But the extra time acknowledges the extra effort required to paint the portrait of someone you know.
As always, the challenge is to paint just what you see – not what you THINK you see.
Best regards
Nicholas Pearce
Painting Women and Light