For years and years portrait painting is my daily job. Commissioned work or not, it belongs to me as Niagara belongs to Falls. I can´t imagine doing something else. It always has been a great privilege to be able to do what I am good at. And it still is. But I really should be paving the way to dedicate more time to do watercolour landscape. We live in a very picturesque setting and there is always a nice motive worth painting. Below a watercolour of the village that I made last year and changed a bit this morning.
This photograph has nothing to do with portrait painting, but everything with our daily life here in Chelva. The kitchen garden is Helma´s pride and joy. We are lucky to live in a tranquil farming village, where each has a vegetable garden and where everyone shares his plants. One sows tomatoes the other onions. And anyone trying to grow as pure as possible. Life here is quiet but with great dynamic. Far away from the Monsanto debate, that affects us all and threatens the whole world.
In portrait painting it is always a matter of the right colour in the right place. Nothing more, nothing less. Even so in landscape and still life painting, but an important difference with portrait painting is the issue of the likeness of the face. In my commissioned work I really want to show the best likeness I can. I am not Matisse who once answered a disappointed lady seeing the portrait he made. “But this is not me”, she said. Indeed, he replied, this is a Matisse! For me likeness is fundamental. But in a portrait there are areas where similarity is not so much at issue. For instance in the hair. Of course the whole haircut must be right and recognizable, but especially in this zone a painter can show more freedom. Smooth brushstrokes. Some say Happy Brushstrokes. I call it Hanging the Garlands. Hanging garlands means having a party. That is my intention here. In this detail I hope you can see what I mean.
I have just finished this painting and it will be delivered next month.
Once I have the client´s permission I will show the entire portrait.
A few years ago I had to do a commission of a family portrait. Three children on the same canvas. The youngest six years old, the oldest thirteen. I had an appointment on Saturday for a first meeting and Sunday to do the photo session. During my first visit I noticed immediately that the lighting in the room where I should take the pictures, would cause problems. A low winter sun was shining full on the kids and I wanted to avoid that at all costs. That I had experienced before and knew what to do.
I had to mask the window with transparant paper to filter the sunlight.
I would have to mask the big window with transparent paper so that the sunlight would be filtered. I had no transparent paper with me, but I had time to go and buy. The only thing I could get in the stationery store was a box of loose sheets, A3 size. So I bought that, and some tape. Well prepared, I returned the next morning at the family´s house and began covering the window. Quite a chore. The oldest of the three followed me with scrutiny. He did not trust my method at all and looked at me scornfully. However the shoot went well and in the end the portrait was beautiful. I delivered the large painting. When the canvas was unpacked, the oldest stared in amazement at the result. He looked at me and asked, did you make that? I nodded. “You mean you really did this yourself? But that’s awfully difficult!” He said in disbelief. After all that fumbling with transparent paper he had no high opinion of me.
Awfully difficult! And such reactions I hear frequently: “I cannot understand how you can do this” I realize there is a lot of mystique and wonder about what we, portrait painters, do. So I decided to prepare a lecture on portrait painting. That will be in the castle of Heeswijk Dinther in Holland next autumn. Later I will give you more information.
I will give a lecture on portrait painting at Kateel Heeswijk Dinther in october 2013.
Spelt flour pancakes with spinach, garlic and cheese.
Today I started cutting frames for two paintings. I do the carpentry work and Helma, my wife, finishes them. She is an expert in gold leaf gilding. She followed a special training at the National Restoration Center in Amsterdam. Later I will show you the results.
Then quickly into the kitchen. For today: wholemeal spelt flour pancakes with spinach, garlic and cheese.
Fresh spinach. Enough for two people. (For us it was the last harvest from the kitchen garden.)
3 cloves of garlic
1 glass of beer
cup of milk
1 egg
salt
ripened cheese
olive oil for frying
Baking the pancakes.A strip of spinach in the centre, two slices of cheese at one border. Roll from the left to the right so later the melted cheese “glues” the roll.
Mix in a bowl the flour and beer.
Add the egg.
Add enough milk to the mixture in order to obtain a nice and liquid batter. Add salt.
Leave it for half an hour in the refrigerator.
Wash the spinach and cook with entrained water in a large pan in 10 minutes.
Drain.
Mince the three cloves of garlic finely and mix it with the spinach.
Bake a pancake in a medium size fire pan once the oil is hot.
Lay a strip of spinach in the centre and at the edge two slices of cheese. Roll the pancake.
Maintain the pancake warm so the cheese melts slightly.
