Introducing Interlocking Portraits

I am thrilled to present the first of my Interlocking Portraits™, a unique approach to portraiture I created for a client who wanted a family portrait that could ultimately be gifted to each of her four children. Designed to hang together, this modular oil portrait can be enjoyed by the entire household, but can be divided and given to family members as they move away from home, go off to college, or start their own families, allowing each of them to keep part of the cherished portrait.

This portrait was created with the Renaissance technique of grisaille (griz-eye) painting. The initial painting was executed in gray tones ranging in values from dark to light and sometimes warm to cool. Transparent oil color glazes are then applied over the finished grisaille painting to complete the piece. Click here to see the tonal underpainting painting.

The four oil paintings featured here are of a Lincoln Park family on their roof deck and are each 4-5 feet tall.

Thoughtful Friends

The 10" x 14" oil portrait of this handsome jovial man has a nice story to go along with it. It is a little hard to explain but stick with me...

Two 40-something men, one of whom I've know since highschool, contacted me to create a portrait as a gift for their good friend who just lost his father to illness.

The grieving friend's father had always hung a painted portrait of his father (the grandfather) in his office at work. That old portrait, smiling down on the father as he worked, brought back fond memories and served as a source of inspiration and solace.

So these two 40-something men, along with several other long time buddies, wanted to give their grieving friend the same feeling of his father smiling down upon him. We worked from multiple photos and met several times during the process to ensure a good likeness. Now their grieving friend has a portrait of his father, just like his father did--the tradition continues.

I've never met the friend but I hope the painting brings him the same inspiration and solace his father's father's portrait did.

Confused? Sorry, it's hard to explain the relationships (lots of fathers, lots of friends).

Anyway, my point is I was really touched by the big hearts that these men exhibited as they pulled together such a thoughtful gift for their grieving friend. And as an artist, it was nice to be a part of the healing.

Second portrait, six years later

This oil portrait, delivered last week (20"x 26"), is the second painting commissioned by one of my first clients. You can see the first one I did in watercolor in 2003 here. Beautiful kids, eh?

Teenagers in a photobooth

My studio assistant and I delivered this commissioned oil portrait last month. "Core Four in a Photobooth" (12" x 30") is of four teenage girlfriends commissioned by the mom of one of the girls as a holiday gift for her daughter. I must admit it was a great idea. How fun would it be to have a painting like this today (30 years later) of my four best girlfriends in highschool?

I'm back with a huge oil painting project

Where have I been since my last post? Working on several oil paintings including these four. (I'll post the other two paintings I've been working on later this this week.) These four oil paintings are each 4-5 feet tall. Click on the photo above to see them better. The paintings are designed to hang together or apart. The subjects are a sweet Lincoln Park family on their roof deck. My studio assistant Tracee Badway and I have been working on capturing the values in gray scale before we add color. I'm very excited and pleased with how this is turning out. Watch this studio news blog for the final color version in a few weeks. My artwork photographer is Scott Keely who does great work.