February 2009
Male Portrait Two
by Allison Alexandra
I met with Dr. James Dalen, M.D., M.P.H., in his home in the Foothills in Tucson, AZ. He had served many years as the Dean of the College of Medicine, University of Arizona.
He mentioned to me that his wife was an artist. By the time I left, I had been given a thorough and informative tour of the artwork in his home.
Please Scroll down to find a synopsis of the process of Painting this portrait with pastel.
Portrait of James Dalen, MD
Dean of the College of Medicine
University of Arizona
1988-2002
20" x 16", Pastel on Ampersand Board
by Allison Alexandra
One. Initial Consultation
During the initial consultation, I discussed with him what clothing he might wear for the portrait. After several attempts, this combination was arrived at. I enjoyed the lively red accent from the tie in unison with the more formal dark blue coat.
It was interesting working with a subject who was experienced at portraits. I found that he knew just how to smile.
Two. Sketch
I started with a grey ampersand board. This provided a rigid support for the pastel medium. This support was more forgiving than I had imagined.
It was possible to erase and correct some lines in the process of sketching. I used a French Grey and a Brown Ochre for this part.
Three. Background
For the background, I looked for some colors that would compliment his hair, complexion, and tie without dominating this portrait. I started with a layer of NuPastels Carmine 236 and Black 239 for this purpose. The NuPastels are not as soft as other pastels and will not fill up the tooth of the paper as easily.
Four. Another Layer
This process went faster than I had expected. After establishing a first layer with hard pastels, I went back over to add another layer using Rembrandt pastels, which are a few notches softer than the NuPastels.
I used lots of warm beiges, ochres, and siennas along with grey for the face. The jacket was painted with Iron Blue 225 and Black 229. The tie was done with Carmine Madder 206 and a Warm Light Grey 239. I used various shades of blue for the eye.
Five. Second Layer
I felt that I needed to develop the form of the head. The eyebrows needed readjustment along with the angle of the nose. I tried to deepen the color of the skin while allowing for correct highlights. The shirt and coat were more fully developed in this stage, and detail was
added to the tie.
The background was competing with the face by being a similar orange-red tone. I knew that I wanted a warm red tone in the background. If I tried to add more layers of pastel, I would surely fill up the tooth
of the paper.
So, I used Photoshop to help with this challenge. I scanned in a digital image and "tested" out various backgrounds using the layer palette.
It turns out that my favorite background for this portrait was a slight variation of what I started with. I added more of a magenta hue to the mix, encircled by some greys, blue, and black to tone it down.
Six. Finished Portrait
Now, the elements of this portrait fell into place. The head and torso, clothing, and background seemed to be integrated.
I was pleased with the form, detail, values, and colors. It was formal but not dull. There was character and life, but it was not over done. This reminded me that I observed a spark of joy in my subject when he sat down and smiled.
Nevertheless, I think that this quality or spark was transferred to this painting. Some people who viewed this painting mentioned
this sentiment to me.