A friend and I had the opportunity to visit a professional painter’s studio this week, and see how he works. Justin Hess (www.jhessfineart) is a graduate and teacher at the Florence Academy, with works exhibited in London and the US (actually, Ann Long Fine Art, in Charleston, holds some of his paintings). I am honored to have the interesting experience of modeling for one of his paintings. He is painting me in a long black dress holding a fan, standing contrapossto, or with all the weight on one leg. I agreed thinking it would be fairly easy, but standing completely still for what feels like forever is more stressful than I could imagine. After the first session, I think I would rather run ten miles.
However, my mind is very engaged while posing, because Justin set up a mirror in front of me to the right, so that I can see in the reflection the entire canvas as he works. I feel like I am taking another class for no extra charge, one on professional portrait painting with your own model, using your own more creative pose than one in the classroom. I learned several things during this first session:
One, when I get back home, I can think of several ways to improve the process with which I usually work with the people I paint on commission. I will try to pose them and draw them from life first, as it comes out more dynamic and lifelike. Then, taking a dozen or so good pictures, I will try to capture the essence of that person using the details in the photos. This is necessary because I have never met anyone outside of class (who is not also an artist) who would be willing to actually sit still for a painting for the number of hours necessary to complete it. Two, I can see the benefits of having an immaculate studio. Below you see his studio, a very pleasant and inspiring place, with a gallery-like atmosphere.
Justin Hess Studio
Justin’s girlfriend Alicia is one of the sculpture instructors at the Florence Academy, and had some of her work scattered about his studio. Although I do not know much about sculpture, she certainly has some of the most expressive and powerful work I have seen in sculpture. Below is an example of her work.
"Centaur", a plaster cast of the final bronze statue
Love it!
