MEETING IN PERSON, a posing session plus AN EXTENSIVE PHOTOSHOOT, AND FOLLOWING THE FIRST OUTLINE some POSING SESSIONs; THAT IS THE PROCESS BEHIND MY PORTRAITS.
Of course, it is not feasible for most people to spend days posing for their portrait. This is why having photographs at hand is useful for me. I will take those myself, and they can also serve, at the start of the process, as a tool to agree on aspects such as posture, clothes, et cetera. But in order to ‘catch’ the true essence of a person on canvas, a number of face-to-face sessions with the person portrayed is essential. Those sessions – usually two or three – are part of different stages of the painting process.
These sessions will take place in my studio, in Veere. And they do actually involve more than just ‘posing’. We will chat, drink coffee or a glass of fine wine, you will be served a nice lunch… Because I want to see you move, hear you talk. Do laugh lines appear when you smile, or dimples in your cheeks? Do you lean backwards or forwards when you relax? I am aware that many people feel uncomfortable, being studied like that. And I will go out of my way to not make you feel like that. The homely atmosphere of my studio – in a beautiful, 16th century townhouse – definitely helps.
Given my classic medium of choice – oil on canvas – the entire process, from start to finish, will take some three to four months. This, of course, has to do with the necessary drying time. But it also provides me with the opportunity to let a portrait ‘settle’. It turns a painted portrait into more than a snapshot in time. For weeks, I will literally be looking into your eyes, even when you are not there. I will try to get to know you, and work towards a portrait that, when you see it, makes you say ‘yes, that is who I am’. Not because I perfectly captured the colour of your eyes – which, by the way, I will do –, but because I saw the person behind those eyes.
MEETING IN PERSON, a posing session plus AN EXTENSIVE PHOTOSHOOT, AND FOLLOWING THE FIRST OUTLINE some POSING SESSIONs; THAT IS THE PROCESS BEHIND MY PORTRAITS.
MEETING IN PERSON, a posing session plus AN EXTENSIVE PHOTOSHOOT, AND FOLLOWING THE FIRST OUTLINE some POSING SESSIONs; THAT IS THE PROCESS BEHIND MY PORTRAITS.
MEETING IN PERSON, a posing session plus AN EXTENSIVE PHOTOSHOOT, AND FOLLOWING THE FIRST OUTLINE some POSING SESSIONs; THAT IS THE PROCESS BEHIND MY PORTRAITS.
MEETING IN PERSON, a posing session plus AN EXTENSIVE PHOTOSHOOT, AND FOLLOWING THE FIRST OUTLINE some POSING SESSIONs; THAT IS THE PROCESS BEHIND MY PORTRAITS.
