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A Vision of Excellence

Adelaide Nutting Cecilia Beaux The Johns Hopkins Hospital Baltimore

t's been said that commitment is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism. (1) The very same can be said of the work that we, as portrait painters are about, and the goals we all share. Without commitment there can be no excellence.

How many times have you heard comments like: "I could never paint, I just don't have that talent" or " painting is something you have to be born with"—as if only you and I and other artists are privy to special secrets and magical abilities never to be understood by outsiders. Nonsense. Is talent overrated? Probably. To be sure, painters—particularly representative painters—do need to have some inherent "knack", but without good training and rigorous practice, "talent" itself is never enough. Only a deep love for the art, whether portrait painting, writing, or music can enable us to commit to the thousands of hours excellence requires, particularly when so many of those hours are just plain frustrating.

In the excellent and inspiring Art & Fear, authors Bayles and Orland say, "The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars."

Think about the fact that Michael Jordan has missed more than 14,000 free throws. Or that Hank Aaron failed to get a hit two out of every three times he tried. It's the commitment to continue in the face of failure that made them champions, and allowed them to excel at their work. It's about doing your personal best, each and every day.

I urge my students, each time they walk up to a blank canvas, to think: "This could be the best painting I have ever done." And sure enough, every once in a while, it will be. And with the commitment to improve and become better, that "best painting so far" will happen with more frequency.

That being said, there is a good deal more to a successful portrait than having a winning attitude.

An Overview of Excellence

Applying a successful vision to every element that attends the painted portrait will enable you to move forward more effectively and with a more certain direction.

Considered at once, the sheer volume and scope of decision choices can be, simply, overwhelming. But by thoughtfully separating the nature and timing of those choices, the process is made manageable.

I am a firm believer that time spent up front is the best invested of all the hours that you'll spend in creating the painted portrait. Not only will the pre-painting investment prevent a lot of problems down the road, but it will let you avoid developing problems that simply cannot be fixed later on. Even more valuable, when a painting is successful, you'll know why. When you know why something works, you can incorporate the successful elements and proceed into future work.

In creating the commissioned portrait, there are three fundamental sets of decisions you'll be making. First, there is the set of decisions you'll make before ever picking up the brush; second, there are decisions that can only be made during the painting process itself; and third, there are the decisions you'll make at the completion of the work.

The first group of upcoming articles will address many of the decisions that ought to be made before you begin the portrait such as: shared vision and expectations; preparing for the first commission; business basics; posing and lighting the subject; photographing the subject; picture composition; and value massing.

The second group of articles will focus on the decisions you'll be making between the first brushstroke, and the last.

Finally, the third group of articles will look at what happens at the completion of the portrait, which completes the cycle, and provides the basis for revising and improving the elements that comprise the pre-painting.

See you next time.


Notes:
(1) Shearson Lehman American Express

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