Portrait Society of America 2015: Opening Night Face-off

At 5:00 pm on Thursday night, fifteen artists gathered to paint 5 models before a packed crowd in the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt in Buckhead, GA, a suburb of Atlanta. Both artists and models draw numbers so no one knows in advance where he or she will paint nor whom will be modeling - it is such fun, and in my group were Kate Stone and Carol Arnold, both spectacular painters. The finished demonstrations are auctioned during the weekend, with the proceeds going toward the scholarships the PSA offers each year. Here are several photos showing the process - time flying until the final bell rings at 7:30 and the event is concluded. You can see all the paintings here, on Matt Innis's excellent blog, "Underpaintings"

Above, an overview of one end of the ballroom. All of the painting stations were set up in the center, so that conference attendees could move around the perimeter to watch each artist's progress.

Here are some of the steps:

Above, part way through painting our model, Sarah. You can see artist Katherine Stone painting next to me. Carol Arnold was on Kate's left. I used for the first time the Natural Pigments's Artefex oil-primed linen panel, with thanks to George O' Hanlon who graciously donated the panel. It's a beautiful panel, and I will look forward to using more of them.

Above, artists painting the model in red. And below, my artist friend Annette Goings must have been saying something funny as she took these pics:)

 Below, my finished portrait of Sarah. Oil. 20 x 16.

Below, showing artists my brand new fabulous NewWave grey palette, complete with a thumb gasket to prevent aching hands while holding the palette. It's a beaut,and best of all I got to keep it - thank you Kyle!