Portrait Painting Atelier

TheartofportraitureapproacheditsapexduringthesixteenthcenturyinEuropewiththediscoveryofoilpaintingwhentheoldmastersdevelopedandrefinedtechniquesthatremainunsurpassedtothisday.Theascendanceofnonrepresentationalartinthemiddleofthetwentiethcenturydisplacedthesevenerableskills,especiallyinacademicartcircles.FortunatelyforaspiringartiststodaywhowishtolearnthemethodsthatallowedtheOldMasterstoachievetheluminouscolorandsubtletonalitiessocharacteristicoftheirwork,thisknowledgehasbeenpreservedinhundredsofsmalltraditionalpaintingateliersthatperseveredintheoldwaysinthiscountryandthroughouttheworld.Comingoutofthisdedicatedmovement,PortraitPaintingAtelierisanessentialresourceforanartcommunitystillrecoveringfromatimewhensolidinstructioninarttechniquewasunavailableinourschools.OfparticularvaluehereisademonstrationoftheOldMasters’techniqueoflayeringpaintoveratoned-groundsurface,aprocessthatbuildsfromthetransparentdarkareastothemoredenselypaintedlights.Thismethodunifiestheentirepainting,creatingabeautifulglowthatilluminatesskintonesandsoftlyblendsallthecolortones.Readerswillalsofindvaluableinstructioninpaintmediumsfromclassicoil-basedtoalkyd-based,theinteractiveprinciplesofcompositionandphotograph-basedcomposition,andtheanatomyofthehumanfaceandthekeyrelationshipsamongitsfeatures.RichlyillustratedwiththeworkofpreeminentmasterssuchasMillet,Géricault,andvanGogh,aswellassomeoftoday’sleadingportraitartists—andfeaturingsevendetailedstep-by-stepportraitdemonstrations—PortraitPaintingAtelieristhefirstbookinmanyyearstosocomprehensivelycovertheconceptsandtechniquesoftraditionalportraiture.