On Tuesday April 13th I did a portrait demonstration for the Macquarie Towns Arts Society. These demonstrations are always a learning experience for me too. Painting a portrait under the pressure of expectation is different to the relaxed informal group setting where the outcome doesn't really matter, and there is the added burden of trying to verbally explain and give something of value to the audience watching.
The time is limited, should I say a lot and then get stuck into the painting? or say less and try to feed information as the painting progresses?..I tried to take the second approach. With the portrait groups there is usually a break every 20 minutes, which gives the sitter a rest, and the artist a change of concentration and the chance of a fresh look, which doesn't happen with a demonstration, so an information exchange is another way of doing that.
The group watching seemed to really enjoy it and I'm told there will be a YouTube video of this demonstrationavailable,so I may be able to see for myself!
The time is limited, should I say a lot and then get stuck into the painting? or say less and try to feed information as the painting progresses?..I tried to take the second approach. With the portrait groups there is usually a break every 20 minutes, which gives the sitter a rest, and the artist a change of concentration and the chance of a fresh look, which doesn't happen with a demonstration, so an information exchange is another way of doing that.
The group watching seemed to really enjoy it and I'm told there will be a YouTube video of this demonstrationavailable,so I may be able to see for myself!
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