At its meeting on May 3rd at the Institute, the Society was entranced by the classical portrait painting skill of Warren Sealey.  Warren is a classically trained painter who began his training in Toronto, then travelled to Florence where he studied at the Angel Academy of Art, Charles Cecil Studios, and finally at the atelier of American artist Rebecca Harp.  Having previously exhibited in Italy, he now lives in Bristol and works as an artist and teacher.

On the evening, Warren took as his subject a reproduction of a painting of Rosalind Hester by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830).  Portrait painting develops an intense relationship between the artist and subject, creating not just a likeness but an illusion of life.  When executed with skill it can reveal something of the character of the sitter as perceived by another person rather than the dispassionate accuracy of the camera lens.

In the short time available, Warren showed his mastery of the old oil painting techniques, including how flesh tones and hair colour can be faithfully captured with a limited palette, typically just black, white, yellow ochre, vermillion and burnt umber.  He was able to demonstrate how to overcome the most feared aspect of portrait painting, which is how to get started!  He advocates getting paint on the canvas or board and then making adjustments, which you can do with oils, meaning that you do not have to worry about getting it right first time.  Standing back to objectively review what you have achieved so far from different angles will give you the clue as to what needs to be done next.

At the end of the evening OVAS member Penny Lamb gave a vote of thanks, in which she noted that it was wonderful to see the picture come alive and those present were so absorbed that one could have heard a pin drop during the process.