Princess Kate's Portrait...

Kate Middleton Portrait
By Johanna Spinks
Done on her engagement

Princess Kate's Official Portrait
Paul Emsley

OK friends...so what do you think? A big buzz in the portrait world today over Princess Kate's first official portrait..and most of it toward the blistering negative from both the public and art critic alike.

I feel sorry for the artist Paul Emsley. Not easy to do a royal portrait or any other going into a public collection. I have done it. You get nervous no matter what. You know your art butt is on the line. And you also know everyone has an opinion about absolutely everything from five day old fish and chips to Kate's mouth pursed tight like a fishwife.

I think he should certainly have done a sitting from life of her which he freely admits he didn't, working the whole time from photo reference he shot. He even did a film showing his studio and his photo reference of her all over the place. I found that hard to watch being a portrait artist who has made life paintings of the sitter an important part of my process.

The good news is that Princess Kate loves it and is on film saying so. Maybe that will help the artist today because unless he has skin thick as an oyster shell, the reviews must hurt. He is probably under the bed covers eating toast and peanut butter right now. Or down the pub on his 10th pint. Or both?

Now go take on the art day!