Portrait Art Show

Want to go to an art gallery with me? Yesterday, my daughter and I went to the Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth GA for the Fall Juried Exhibition of the Portrait Society of Atlanta. Here are some of my favorite portraits in the show (but to be truthful, I really wanted to photograph every one of them!) I must apologize in advance for not getting the artist's names. That is an oversight I really regret.
This one was (obviously, as you can tell by the blue ribbon) the Blue Ribbon winner. I tried to imagine what it would be like to judge this show. All the work was so good, that it would be very difficult to pick. I think what made this one a stand out was the way the art almost seems lit from behind the canvas...it appears to glow, as you can see in this photo - and if you can see that in this photo, you can imagine how wonderful it is in person! The framing is perfect, with the gallery-wrapped canvas recessed into the modern frame - the frame didn't distract from the artwork. A too fancy frame can sort of compete for the viewer's attention sometimes.
Ballerinas are a favorite of portrait artists (I think because Degas was known for his ballerina paintings) but I think the layout of this painting is wonderful, and as you can see, painting white isn't just white - the artist has to have an eye for all the different iridescent colors that are reflected. The frame is ornate, but just the right touch to complement the art and subject.
It was hard to photograph some of the portraits, because of reflections. This is a pastel portrait that was really breathtaking. Unfortunately this photo doesn't do it justice. I was blown away by the baby's eyes especially. I wish I could show this better to you. Of course, I am kind of partial to dry media (dry media is stuff like dry pastels, graphite pencils, colored pencils) and wet media is stuff like watercolor, oil paints, acrylic paints - makes sense, right?

This was a small artwork for a pastel, only about 11x14 to 14x17 which made the amount of detail even more impressive (because pastels tend to be large, it's hard to get small details). This probably would have gotten a ribbon of Merit at least if I had been judging - just for the wonderful eyes if nothing else - but people do tend to dislike a composition that "cuts" a person in half, I've found it's even more disliked if it's a child's portrait. Framing it so that the frame ends the image, instead of the baby floating in the middle would help that. One hand is covered by the mat, that hurts the composition. Regardless, clearly the artist is very talented!
Here is a view of the gallery. Isn't it beautiful?

I urge you to try to visit an art gallery this month. The art show at the Hudgens continues through December 31, 2009.