Violet Bohemian

THE ART OF THE PORTRAIT

- Adrienne Stein

Recently, I've enjoyed creating a series of paintings using black-and-white vintage photos as reference and inventing the color from imagination. I was going through a chapter of feeling stuck and "blocked" as an artist. Working with these images freed me up, giving me a more carefree attitude without a personal attachment to the subject like I do when painting someone close to me like a family member, friend or portrait client. These former eras of film, ballet and theater have a classic aesthetic that I love. I use the initial emotional impact I get from the photo, and I use that to guide the palette. I love working from vintage photographs for that reason-it exercises the interpretive muscle!

REFERENCE PHOTO

My reference here was a black-and-white photo of the dancer Margaret Morris, circa 1910. My intuition guided me to this Easter egg-inspired palette. I use a very extensive chromatic palette, but some key colors in this painting are: lead-tin yellow light by Michael Harding, and Sennelier paints in Chinese orange, baryte green, permanent green, cobalt violet and king's blue.