This is really beautiful Julian,
very touching, and there is a lot that
goes unsaid here, which makes it all the
more moving. Who needs internet when you
can be creating things of this caliber??
We can all surely wait patiently for such
magnificent brushwork... the eyes!!!!!!
My God what a stunning piece of work Julian.
Of course I don't know the sitter but I feel as if I do looking at this. It has great depth and character, not often seen in portraits these days. I've just got back from a visit to the National Portrait Gallery in London, this painting belongs there and would have stopped me in my tracks. You have a rare talent.
Sparkling black eyes full of goodness penetrating our hearts...And this wide-spreading white brushstroke like a silver comet coming from the eyebrow and reaching the top of the nose... Enchanting. Forgive me Madam, but how not to be under your spell! Julian, you are so surprising! And so humane.
Upon opening this photo I was quite taken in with how 'alive' your portrait is..so true and complete. I actually smiled back! You have a wonderful gift.
Wow Julian, you need to be deprived of electricity more often!!! Next time we have a series of rolling blackouts will you and Ruth come and visit us in California??
You certainly put your computer downtime to wonderful use. It looks as if Mo is about to speak to me! We look forward to the postcards resuming, though.
Ohhhhh.....Julian. Wow. This is simply one of the most amazing portraits I've ever seen. Not only is it exquisitely painted, but you captured this woman's soul. Now, THAT, my friend, is PAINTING.
Elegantly human. Just exceptional in everyway there is to flick a brush across a canvas and capture someone's soul. Wow. Just riviting.
Aren't we just awful without the power on?.. chuckling.
Stunning frankness. I'm in absolute awe. How do you do it?
I now realize that I'm in dire need of a power outage. This computer is robbing me of much needed portrait practice.
Thank you so much for sharing this incredible portrait, in which you show us Mo's spirit and beauty. Also for the generous photos which give us a glimpse of your artistic process.
I'm a painter myself and know how difficult portraits can be.
In this one you really caught the serenity and intelligence of the sitter.
It reminds me a little of Lucian Freud - refined.
Incroyable! Here is the portrait of Humanity as a whole. Mo could be a man or a woman, an American Indian or a Brazilian peasant, a Parisian with soul, a Russian with knowledge of the whole human spectrum of emotions, including understanding and kindness. I love Mo because I feel that Mo would be capable of holding my hand when I lose my best French friend (which I've just done and I had known him since 1957). How DO you capture all of this in one portrait? Mo also has a sense of humour, thank God and thank Julian! Amazing, and I'm so grateful to you! Merci.
Thank you for giving us such a large image of this wonderful painting that we can all get right up next to. If Mo was not world famous yesterday, she certainly is today! Can't wait for mo paintings!
I also appreciate the whole painting with its structure: the portrait under the middle of the canvas with a hallucinating contrast between " organic" and "mineral", the abstract painting style of the background but seeming to emanate from Mo, like a vibrant aura, thus the whole painting is being unified and infused with an intense life. At last, the same impression like in Mo-na Lisa, the face seeming to appear suddenly from black hair and dark shadows... An iconic presence. Unforgettable.
imo, good to see you painting large again, julian,
painting a smile is very diificult & you've achieved it in a dignified, understated & discrete manner, bravo.
William Hoyt of Hartland, Vermont just wrote me this, which made me smile:
?The portrait is exquisite. Only you know what might need adjusting, but as I read that you planned on working on it some more it reminded me of a time I was doing a watercolor of an older man painting the bottom of his boat. He looked like John Steinbeck, complete with a white beard and yellow oil skins, sea boots. The boat was a small schooner tied alongside a stone pier at low tide and he was rolling on the bottom paint standing under the boat, sun sparkling and reflecting in the wet paint. Anyway he wandered over to where I was sitting and after assessing what I had painted he allowed that I needed an assistant.
Oh boy, I thought, here it comes, the art critic is going to tell me what I'm doing wrong. His next comment echoes every time I paint. He said, To take that away from you before you ruin it.?
Sur la première photo du blog, sous "Mo's portait day 1", le visage de Mo semble être déjà là, à l'angle supérieur gauche du drap, sous la pince à linge, comme sur un suaire blanc plein de traces... Phénomène magique et qui contribue peut-être à donner au portrait de Mo l'impression d'une apparition qui nous éblouit.
Thanks for sharing this Julian. If I visit a gallery there are usually two or three pictures which practically jump off the wall and demand that I spend most of my time in front of them. This would be one such and the web is such a great tool when used as generously as you are doing. The close up especially appreciated. I just wish I could touch the surface.
32 Comments
?The portrait is exquisite. Only you know what might need adjusting, but as I read that you planned on working on it some more it reminded me of a time I was doing a watercolor of an older man painting the bottom of his boat. He looked like John Steinbeck, complete with a white beard and yellow oil skins, sea boots. The boat was a small schooner tied alongside a stone pier at low tide and he was rolling on the bottom paint standing under the boat, sun sparkling and reflecting in the wet paint. Anyway he wandered over to where I was sitting and after assessing what I had painted he allowed that I needed an assistant. Oh boy, I thought, here it comes, the art critic is going to tell me what I'm doing wrong. His next comment echoes every time I paint. He said, To take that away from you before you ruin it.?