For me, painting portraits is more than just creating a likeness of the person. Although that is critical, it is just the foundation. What I like to explore are the emotions beyond that. I’m not going for photo realism, impressionism, or any other traditional approach to this, but instead, using this style I’ve developed or the years. A combination of realism, abstraction, emotion, and a bit of movement. I often work from existing images provided, though I also explore the subject with my own photography or by working with a photographer. Either way, I eventually arrive at what I need to paint from.
For instance, the first painting below was a surprise gift for this guy’s wife. Since they live in Hong Kong, he provided several photos of her. I chose the one I thought would work the best, did some preliminary sketches and discussed the finished size. This particular portrait is 36” x 40”, whereas the one just below it (lady with the red lips and black background) is much larger at 60” x 72”. The rest of the paintings below represent examples of images provided, images where I worked directly with a photographer, and images that I took myself.
Contact me at 770-778-2725, jimmitoro@gmail.com and let's see what I can do for you.
Comments