1. “Jessica” by Gerry Chromoy
I thought I would tell you a personal story about my wanting to see a hand painted portrait of myself when I grew up, what happened when I did, and the revelation I had. By the way, leave it to a portrait painter to have a half-dozen portraits of herself to talk about….
But first, let me say a few brief points that are special about this art form:
A hand painted portrait, whether painted or drawn, is created by an artist looking at the subject and/or several photos. While doing this, the artist gets to know the person and senses how best to portray their individual beauty and manner. It is a molding together of many, many, many instants of time. In contrast, photos are valued for capturing every slight expression of feature just as it was in one fleeting millisecond. But a hand painted portrait actually represents a much larger segment of time.
My experience receiving hand painted portraits of me done by others
2. JPR at 16 mos.-old painted photo
Since I was young, I wanted a hand painted portrait. I wanted to see how someone else saw me. Growing up, I was glad to have the 11”x14” painted photo that my mother had had done of her little darling baby at 16 months in a christening gown. [See picture #2] It has always made me smile every time I passed it and feel very special and loved. But I wanted something more.
A Disney artist made a caricature drawing that I threw into the first trash can I saw. It was 20 feet away from the point of purchase. Then an artist friend freely colored over a black and white photo of me making a cute exaggeration. I enjoyed looking at it and still [continue reading…]