The Art of the Portrait: Recap Day 2

Day 2 of the "Art of the Portrait" (April 15) was jam-packed with wonderful things, including the opening ceremony (which includes a slideshow presentation of all the faculty, finalists and Certificate of Excellence winners), and an incredibly educational and entertaining lecture by James Gurney about the science of facial recognition and seeing . He also shared a clip from his new video, "Painting Portraits in the Wild." James Gurney was followed by a two hour demo by Quang Ho and Rose Frantzen . These two are the painting dream team. Rose was like a hurricane on stage... her energy could not be contained! Her start consisted of throwing paint on the canvas with a rubber spatula! Quang looked over and said, "What the hell are you doing?" The whole demo was hil… Read more »

The Art of the Portrait: Recap Day 2

The Art of the Portrait - Recap Day 1

Last weekend was the 18th annual "Art of the Portrait" conference for the Portrait Society of America , held in Reston, VA. This was my 7th year in attendance, but my first year as an official faculty member! The conference always opens with an amazing production called the "Face Off," where 15 artists paint from 5 different live models over the course of three hours, and attendees can circle the room and watch all the action. I had the privilege of being one of those 15 artists.  I barely slept the night before. Whenever I'm doing something new, I overthink everything. But this year I had the benefit of having my twin sister Emily come along with me. It was such a joy to share this weekend with her. I'm sure she got a little tired of everyone thinking she was … Read more »

The Art of the Portrait - Recap Day 1