The Patil Portrait: "Unveiled"

The Patil family came over to take their first look at their portrait ... the one I've been secretly working on over the past 10 months. All went very well!!!

I have a few tweaks ... nothing major ... and then it will be theirs.

I truly enjoyed working on this portrait from beginning to end. It's my greatest challenge to date ... four people, two dogs, largest canvas I've painted, etc. What I particularly loved about it is that this is the kind of painting I'd want to do on my own. The Patil's had seen my restaurant series ... particularly the painting I did of "Randy and Me" and decided that's the kind of portrait they would like of their family. Amazing!

The painting depicts real life in the Patil family ... right before daughter Radhika was going off to college. I did a series of photo shoots during their dinner hour and drew the concept ... a combination of bits and pieces from hundreds of photos. There's a lot of life there.

I wondered about pleasing everyone in the family. Was that possible? Yes, and yea!

Raj (the dad) made two comments that made me very happy. He said he felt like he was right there sitting with them. He also said that they looked real ... or alive ... so much different than a photo. I've been in awe of when that happens right before your eyes as you paint. It's truly magical. I'm glad he saw it, too.

I'm showing some pretty poor photos at the moment. The three tripods I have in the garage are all missing the part that screws into the bottom of my camera ... so I took the photos without that. I move. Constantly. Add to that the room's light is pretty yellow. Add to that I was so anxious to post this I didn't bother to move the chair.

I'll finish this up and take better photos soon.

Find out more about commissioning a portrait on my web site. See the gallery pages for a look at other portraits and the commissions page for pricing and process information.

So, this is post #3 for today. Be sure to read post #2 about special news about son Sam and Michelle ... and post #1 about this afternoon's alla prima portrait.

Tonight I'm painting an interior of my dining room. Such a wonderful day.

"The Patil Portrait" almost done, oil on Angel linen, approx. 44"h x 59"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435

The Tutu Portrait

This portrait was just given to the young girl depicted in the painting ... in honor of her 21st birthday. She's dancing with her big brother in "May I Have This Dance?", a painting commissioned by her mom.

I wrote a post about it back in January when I finished it ... but had to wait for the present to be presented to unveil it here. What a pleasure painting it and delivering it has been. What I loved about it is that the photo was tiny, a little blurry, a little grainy, etc. But all the caring between this brother and sister was there. The details weren't important.

I've had great emails back and forth with mom Sally since first delivering the painting. The latest was this one after her daughter received her present.

We had Sally's 21st birthday party in Charlottesville Saturday night. She absolutely flipped over the "tutu" portrait! It will go down in Simms history as one of the best gifts ever. Her guests were blown away ... Many thanks to you, talented friend!

"May I Have This Dance?", oil on Senso linen, 14"h x 11"w, copyright Jill Banks 2009.

For more information on commissioning a portrait, see my web site, www.jillbanks.com.

Come see my work and the work of 26 other artists this weekend for the Great Falls Studios Spring Art Festival. I'll be at 1144 Walker Road, Suites D (downstairs) and G (upstairs), Great Falls, VA from 10am-5pm both Saturday and Sunday.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435

Fresh Paint

I just finished painting the "twin" of Erica Fortwengler, the communications director for the Art League. I painted the first during my demo at the Art League way back in January. Erica gets that one. The second one -- painted from the first one (so sort of from life) -- is finally complete and will be one of my submissions for the Art League monthly show for September.

The seven month gap between "Erica I" and "Erica II "doesn't mean I'm slow. Lots of other canvases have crossed my path in the meantime.

This one is called "The Writer", 24"h x 20"w, oil on linen, copyright Jill Banks 2008.

Art at the Mill Show Acceptances

The Art at the Mill Show in Millwood, Virginia is a regular fixture in the exhibit schedule for regional artists. Artists submit up to five pieces, and the jury decides whether the piece is accepted, rejected or placed on reserve. There are two shows a year, one in the Spring and the other in the Fall. These shows are a bit quirky (my opinion) with what I consider a really wide range in quality and prices of the work, but they are well attended and a lot of art is sold each show.

Yesterday, I heard word that of the five pieces that I submitted, three were accepted, one was placed on reserve and one was rejected. I'm making progress! That's my best "score" so far.

The Fall Art at the Mill show will take place at the Burwell-Morgan Mill in Millwood, VA on October 4-19, Sunday through Friday, 12-5 pm and Saturday, 10am-6pm. There is an admission fee.

Every time I enter a show, I literally torture myself making a decision on what to submit. I try to think about the venue, notice what sells and what has appeared there before, and consider the juror, if that's publicized. Then I try to pick what I think best suits that combination. I still win some and lose some, but my odds seem to be improving.

Above, I included one of my accepted entries. "Striped Skirt" was painted a week and a half ago, alla prima, when Ellie modeled for the portrait painting class I teach. To paint something alla prima means to paint it all at once -- in a single session without layering the paint. This painting is super loose -- a nice respite for me. 20"h x 16"w, oil on Senso linen canvas, copyright Jill Banks 2008.

By the way, Richard Schmid, a favorite painter of mine, wrote a wonderful book titled "Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting." This is such a great book for artists of all levels! It's published in both hardback and softcover.

Today's Portrait Class

During the morning class, I had a chance to paint for a little while once we moved onto the longer pose. Since I wasn't talking and painting at the same time, I suppose it's not a demo. Close-up of "Shalonda". Copyright Jill Banks 2008.