I love doing portraits, as much as anything because they are the one subject that requires a great deal of concentration – a line or a dot out of position can completely alter the face being painted and no longer quite look like the subject. It’s always very satisfying to finish one though, if all has worked out well.
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The Antiques Dealer
‘The Antiques Dealer’, actually this friend of mine was a teacher at Bath University, but he liked to do a bit of ‘dealing’ at the weekends, with his wife. The painting, as with most of my work was in acrylics.
Jacqui
‘Jacqui’. This wonderful painting, (I have to say that, it’s of my wonderful wife!), caught her while we were out on a picnic on a lovely summer’s day, and I loved the way the sunlight was catching her face.
This is actually a pen drawing, rather than an acrylic and it is of an old friend of mine here in Yarram, now sadly deceased – ‘Jim’.
‘Phil’, also now no longer with us, this gentleman was, believe it or not a great expert at embroidery and was well known for it. I painted this for him and he then entered it for the ‘Archibald’ prize in Sydney! It didn’t win first prize, I’m sorry to say.
‘Robert’ is another good friend of mine, here in Yarram, for many years a ‘gang’ of us have gone to our local pub on a Friday night for a meal together, and ‘Bob’ is one of them. Sadly, due to COVID, that regular Friday is no longer celebrated. Like Jim’s portrait above, this is a pen drawing.
'Missy’ as you may have guessed, is one of our cats, not a human subject. She sat very still for several hours while I drew her, in pen and acrylics. She is still with us, still a constant source of worry for Jacqui, as she gets into trouble at the drop of a hat, but we love her!
All drawings/artwork etc (c) Brian Lee
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