My class demo... Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art.. May 6th...18x24...If I was a guy, I would want to look like Jack Atlantis. This was our model this week and he wowed the room. Everyone loved painting him and everyone did great work.
I had brought in a huge book of Franz Hals portraits and Jack fit right into my 'catch a character if you can' lecture. Boy, Hals did it so well. Humbling stuff. Those faces were painted centuries ago but they still look very much alive. NO cameras there. Life painting all the way.
Jack has one of those handsome chameleon faces that can change into a myriad of looks, ALL good, going from charming 'pretty boy' street cool to hard-edge attitude rocker or haughty Victorian Ringmaster running a circus or country fair.
And of course, you just knew Jack had a lot going on outside of the art school room. He is a very talented musician, with an incredible voice, and a fashion designer, making a lot of the costumes he models in. Great to have the energy of this creative talent in the room. We all fed off it. www.myspace.com/jack_atlantis
He reminds me why I LOVE being a portrait painter. I might be strictly a 'one-trick' pony in the talent department (and some would argue even that) but I get to meet and paint the MOST interesting people. Last week I was in The South doing a sitting with a very special doctor who I felt much the same way about although their worlds are far apart.
This gentleman had helped raised millions for a cancer hospice and was just one of those special people who you feel privileged to meet and spend time with. You feel enriched for knowing them. They teach you.
I just don't get this feeling when I paint landscapes as hard as I try. Trees, ocean mist and misty horizons don't move me at all but people and their life stories surely do in a way that is profound.
Shhhh...don't tell anyone I said that about landscapes...
