Portraits by Cyndie Katz

TRENTON

2012-01-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

Trenton (9X12" oil)

When someone asks how long a portrait takes me to paint, it's hard for me to answer. I generally paint in my kitchen and I don't distinguish between painting time and cooking time and living time. I may work compulsively for a couple of days, never get a meal on the table and let the house fall to pieces around us. Other days I'll cook and clean and tend to a million non-painting tasks and only add a few strokes here and there. But for this painting I was on a time schedule.

Trenton is my nephew and we stayed with his family over Christmas. We arrived the 19th and left the 31st. I brought paints, brushes, and raw canvas which I prepped and tacked to a board I found in the garage. I worked primarily from photos I took since it's hard to get a sixteen year old to sit through dinner much less a portrait.

If I'd had more time I would've used it, but I left the painting stretched and wet on the kitchen wall. So now I can say an oil portrait of a head, from conception to completion, takes about two weeks.

Note: There's only so much that can be done each day on an oil painting because it needs to dry for at least a day before it can be worked on again. I painted the face and neck one day, the hair and cap and shirt the next. Back to the face the third day, the fifth day, etc. Each time I go back more details get added, changed, sometimes subtracted. (The funny gray on the cap is the reflection from the wet paint.)

Trent's a totally cool kid. He's a film maker (PeachyDan Productions), a drummer in a rock band, and a great pianist. I loved seeing him walk through the door, lean his skateboard against the wall, walk over to the piano and bang out an excellent version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah before moving on to the kitchen for a snack. It's fun to paint a kid like that. It just is.

ETHAN

2011-11-27T06:32:00.000-08:00

Just finished this portrait of Ethan, a funny guy living in Boston who I don't really know. However, along with the photos his mother emailed me, was a link to a video he made of himself while studying abroad. Watching Ethan talk and make expressions was super helpful. Plus once I realized how entertaining Ethan was, the whole project was a lot more fun.

I believe in taking advantage of every modern technique possible to get a good likeness.

Here's an excerpt from Ethan's mother's email:

Dear Cyndie,

It's wonderful! We love it, so do Ethan and Bevin (who declared it "amazing.") We expect that the portrait will be passed through the generations, so if Ethan has children they'll look at it and say "there's old Pop when he was a young man!"

Comments like that are really the best part of this business!

JENNY, DOG PORTRAIT

2011-10-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

This is Jenny who died very unexpectedly at age 8 leaving her owner devastated. I worked from a photo her daughter had on her iphone. (10X10, acrylic)

SAM BLOWING BUBBLES

2011-09-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

Sam Blowing Bubbles

This commission was done from a photo that had a lot of miscellanous stuff in it and no grass.

Sam liked the idea that he was important enough to have a portrait of himself.

Acrylic, almost life size.

Amelia

2010-09-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

7X7" acrylic on canvas

I'm happy with this format -- a very close-up almost life sized view of just the face. The parents ordered it as a gift to Amelia when she's an adult. I love that idea!

10 Months of Portraits

2010-07-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

These are many of the portraits I painted from Sept 2009 - June, 2010. Most of these I did from photos, some I did looking in the mirror.

To get them all in I laid them out on our flat roof, climbed a ladder, held the camera over my head, clicked, and remarkably didn't kill myself.

Olga and Bernie

2010-06-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

Painted this small (7x7") study for my friend Olga's birthday. I'd been thinking about making a painting of her and her dog because I like the way their hair coloring and her rebozo compliment each other.

The day I went to photograph them I found out her birthday was coming up, so I quickly did this study without enough time to overwork it -- one of my painterly problems I'm trying to overcome. She really likes it, so I couldn't be more pleased.

(Bernie is not so sure, but it's not my fault he has an underbite.)

Revelers 2010

2010-05-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

Did I mention that I'm trying to introduce more levity into my paintings? This happens to be my daughter, Anna, and some friends, but I think it has some appeal whether you know the models or not. I'm mostly pleased with it because it's nothing like the photo. I was able to change the lighting, the positions of the people, add the balloons, etc. It's taken awhile to be able to visualize what kind of changes might work and to trust my imagination instead of relying heavily on photo references.
(30X40, acrylic)

Jane

2010-05-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

We went to San Miguel de Allende a couple weekends ago to see friends Steve and Jane Ruddock and visit some galleries. Steve and Jane took us to La Fabrica de La Aurora, an old mill now divided up into artist galleries and interior designers' spaces. On Saturday evening lots of the galleries were serving wine and tequilla and I was able to roam around and see some new artists' works. One artist there whose works I'd admired on the walls of the restaurant where we had breakfast was Peter Leventhal. He paints a lot of figures and his style is loose and brushy and I had one of those AHA moments looking at his paintings. I also asked Leventhal if he'd be doing any workshops in the near future. And perhaps next winter he will! Meanwhile, here's a step in the direction of a looser style. This is Jane done from a photo taken of her at dinner. Steve's portrait is on the easel. (10X15, acrylic)

Occupational Hazard for the Self-Portrait Painter

2010-04-28T06:24:00.000-07:00

When I got this idea for a painting it just cracked me up. Not sure anyone else thinks it's quite as funny. Mostly I worked on it at school and it was a little awkward to be making this funny face at myself in "public." But that's part of the fun of being an older student -- I know any self-consciousness I feel is but a drop in the bucket to what twenty somethings feel. Luckily I had my camera with me and was able to take so photos of the work at various stages. I actually kind of like the painting best near the beginning where lots of the gray ground shows through. I want to try to keep more of this rawness in my next work. We'll see.

Self-Portrait with Alergies

2010-03-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

My nose has been stopped up for two weeks now, hence the open mouth. I cough so much every night I'm pretty tired during the days. I thought I had the flu, but finally went to the doctor and he said it's ALERGIES! So who knows when that will settle down. After a number of days not painting and feeling frustrated, I finally mounted a mirror between the windows of my bedroom and taped a canvas to the window right next to it. I painted this self-portrait over the last three days. I could lie down when I felt like it and still study my progress.

This set-up with the mirror on the window was good for putting light into my face, but when the light was best, it was hard to see the colors on the canvas even with the bedroom ceiling light on. (My biggest problem these days, besides the stupid alergies, is lighting.) So a lot of the time I untaped the canvas and held it while I painted. Sometimes I'd put it on my shoulder and look at it and my face together in the mirror to see how it was going.

After 3 days, the painting got the thumbs up from both Geoff and Alice. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have enough energy to work on the live portrait of my friend Jim that I started over a week ago.

(10X15", acrylic)

Happy Birthday Lisa

2010-03-16T06:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Lisa Teague has a lot of presence. She's great to look at and has an air of confidence so she stands out in any group. It's hard to do her justice in a painting. On the other hand, it was a lot of fun to try.

Happy Birthday, Lisa! I only wish we could've done this in person. Miss you.

(20X30, acrylic)

Self Portrait, March 2010

2010-03-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

This is the third in a series of self-portraits using the sight-size method.

I hung the mirror and the canvas on the wall side by side, but then realized the canvas should be lower. I was out of wall nails, so I left it. I think the low head placement works though. That's called a happy accident.

I tried my best to smile.

Sight Size Self-Portrait

2010-02-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, there are some obvious problems with this... BUT I'm very excited to have discovered the sight-size technique which means you make the painting the same size as the image you're looking at. So in this case I put a mirror and a canvas side by side on the easel.

When I concentrate -- I can't crack a smile.

Now to try the technique with a model other than myself. Any volunteers?

(11X13, acrylic)

Alice and LuLu

2010-02-04T07:51:00.000-08:00

Alice wanted a portrait to match her newly decorated bedroom. I painted her portrait with our cat a few years ago, so we thought it would be nice to have one with the dog. And all I have to say is, Poodles are REALLY HARD to paint.

I liked this pose with Alice's head tipped, but I got a stiff neck, because I had to work with my head also tipped a lot of the time.

I may make a couple of changes still (don't like those stars on the left side of the spread), but there's something about posting that helps me move onto the Next portrait.

(24X28, Acrylic)

Keagan Rae Sohl

2010-01-24T07:10:00.000-08:00

When the mother says the painting gives her goosebumps, you know you're done.

The shaddow on the top of her head isn't really there... I can't find the better photo.... damn.

(16X24, acrylic)

Happy Birthday to a Good Guy

2010-01-21T05:26:00.000-08:00

I painted this for my son Ben for his birthday. A Ben quote needs to be written in the blue part, but I'm waiting for him to provide it. A funny, generous, and thoughtful guy. Happy Birthday, Ben!

Florence and Walter

2009-10-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

My mother died when she was 60, that was over 20 years ago. My dad died three years ago. I made this painting from an old photograph taken at some business dinner of my Dad's. It's for a Day of the Dead altar. (I'll explain the altar in my Mexico blog after I set it up .)

The cool thing about painting realistic portraits is that there's a point at which the subject seems to "appear." This can be kind of emotional when you haven't seen the person for a long time.

Particularly when they start questioning you why you're only painting them on a piece of corrugated cardboard! (15X15" acrylic)

Young Tibetan Woman with baby

2009-10-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

My daughter Anna was raising money for Tibetan women this week with her Dining for Women group. She pointed me to a website of photos of Tibetan women and I couldn't resist taking some time out from my Mexico paintings to paint this young woman with her baby.

As far as I can tell, one thing that unites poor people all over the world is their extraordinary use of color, making them irresistable to me as subjects. Now I'm thinking of doing a series of women with babies on their backs...

16X18" acrylic on cardboard.

Bunny

2009-04-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Bunny at home on her patio in Morelia. She just turned 70 and this is a birthday gift. I worked a lot on this portrait on-site (I think we had four sittings, maybe 5) and had so much fun sharing life stories. I ended up finishing the portrait from photos I took. I think the best part is all the colors. (oil, approx. 12X20")

Geoff

2009-02-28T11:31:00.000-08:00

My husband has been posing for this small (20X25cm) oil portrait every morning for over a week. It turns out he's a good model as long as he can talk most of the time and glance down at his laptop occasionally. He brought me up to date on various economist's views of the failing economy as I painted. Even hearing all the bleak news, painting him was a nice way to start the day.

Jack is 22

2009-02-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

This is my son Jack whose birthday was yesterrday. It's my second try with my new technique and there's a lot of paint on this little canvas (4x6"). If you scroll down through the blog there's another larger painting of him I made four years ago.

Barb in her Great Hat

2009-02-04T19:52:00.000-08:00

I don't have the confidence to wear large hats much less orange lipstick, but Barb does it with aplomb. I captured this image over a year ago at a family wedding and it's been on my list of subjects to paint ever since.

Another tiny portrait, 5X5" oil.

Molly and her Hen

2009-02-04T19:43:00.001-08:00

This is Molly and her hen. The two greeted us one day when I was dropping my daughter off to play. Molly's family sells fresh eggs in New Boston, NH.

If you scroll through this blog, you'll see another subject with a rooster on his shoulder. Something about this relationship attracts me...

This is another tiny portrait: 4x6", oil.

Don on Election Day 2008

2009-01-17T06:52:00.000-08:00

This painting is for my brother-in-law's 50th birthday which was in November. It's the first of what I think may be a series of tiny portraits: 4X6". It took me 3 weeks to complete, but getting a good likeness, even in a tiny size can be difficult. There are so many images I want to paint, and there's no way to make large paintings of them all so when I came up with the 4X6" idea I felt relieved. Oil on canvas board.

Happy 50's Don! Happy Presidency, Obama!

Alice on the Deck

2008-09-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

This is my daughter vacationing on Matinicus Island in Maine. I loved the way the sun bleached out her dress. She did not love posing, however, when she could have been off to the beach.

Astrid

2008-07-19T12:03:00.001-07:00

This is a small oil portrait of my Morelia neighbor's granddaughter.

Alice and Miki

2008-07-19T11:57:00.001-07:00

This is my daughter dressed for the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, holding her kitten Miki. (Acrylic on canvas.)

Maury

2008-07-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

This is my friend, artist Maury Colton of Matinicus Island, ME. He was showing me some of his work when I got this idea for a painting where his work kind of bled into him... or maybe he's bleeding into his work. (Acrylic on canvas.)

Rooster Man

2008-07-19T11:33:00.001-07:00

This is a bigger than lifesize portrait. It's my favorite of all my paintings to date. Don't know who he is... just saw him one day at the farmer's market in New Boston with this rooster on his shoulder and knew I had to capture all those orange hues. (Acrylic on canvas.)

Grandma and Ben

2008-07-19T11:29:00.001-07:00

This is my mother and my son Ben. She died before he was two so I painted this for Ben for a college graduation present.

She said he was so precious she could eat him up... here she is taking the first nibble. (Acrylic on board.)

Boy from Pichilinguillo

2008-07-19T11:23:00.001-07:00

This painting was made as a gift. Those are red snapper in his hands. If you'd like to catch some fish like this, go to Mexico-Newsletter.com and order the issue on Pichilinguillo. The beach is remote and unspoiled. This boy will teach you how to handline! (Mixed media on canvas.)

The Twins

2008-07-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

This commissioned portrait of identical twin boys was perhaps my biggest challenge to date. I took a ton of photos and listened to their grandmother explain their distinct personalities. As I worked I began to appreciate slight differences in their appearances. (Oil on birch panel)

Jack

2008-07-16T01:10:00.001-07:00

My son Jack, after the first semester of his first year of college. A lot has happened since then. For one thing, he covered this handsome face with a beard! (Acrylic on canvas)

Margaret and Sarah

2008-07-16T01:02:00.001-07:00

These two girls were on a sabbatical in Mexico with their parents, professors from Vermont. Lovely girls. Dig that red hair. (Oil on canvas)

Tara

2008-07-16T00:55:00.000-07:00

Tara is my daughter's close friend. Not sure this is a very good photo of the portrait though. But now it's hanging in her grandmother's house so I can't check. Her eyes are really this color. (Oil on canvas)

Ben, Up Close

2008-07-14T02:16:00.000-07:00

This is a tiny painting in acrylic on paper that I did before making a larger painting of my son Ben. But I almost like the tiny one best.