John Boyd Martin, an artist from Kansas City, was in Knoxville recently to begin the process of painting Bishop Charles vonRosenberg’s three-quarter length official portrait.
“The idea is to do an outdoor setting with Grace Point as the background,” he said.
The first sitting was before Martin’s camera. “The photo studies are primarily for pose, gesture, expression, light and shadow,” he said. “I use black and white film. [Next] we do a painting study, for color and skin tone. I have a small easel paintbox I set up. It’s not necessarily a perfect likeness – it’s mainly skin tone.
“[Back in the studio,] I look through the contact sheets, and I’ll pick three or four [photo] ideas that would make great paintings. I’ll sketch those out … and I’ll mail the original sketches to the client. I’ll say, for my own preference, I’d do No. 3 – though any one will work. Once that decision is made, I’ll start the painting.
“When it’s done – around late May or early June next year – we’ll pick a delivery date. We’ll look at it together, and see if there’s any touch-up that needs to done ... if Annie thinks the twinkle in his eye is not quite right. ...”
Martin has worked full-time as a portrait artist for 10 or 12 years, but he’s been on that path all his life, he said.
“I’ve always been doing artwork since I was old enough to hold a pencil. In church, they’d give me a pad and a pencil to keep me still. I’d draw the guest speaker.”
Martin first worked, after a university art education, for Western Auto Supply in Kansas City. He drew products and refined his sense of composition by designing catalog pages. He moved on to Vendo, a manufacturer of vending machines, in the ’60s, to do brochures, annual reports and collateral pieces. He worked next as an art director for an advertising firm, but he continued drawing figures, placing people next to products.
He eventually came back around to his first love, portraiture, in the ’80s. “I was pushing 45-50 at that time, pursuing a new career. It was like jumping off a cliff.” He has been represented by PortraitSouth, through which the bishop’s portrait has been commissioned, since the mid-’80s.
“You want people to appreciate your interpretation – you want to honor your own integrity as an artist,” he said. “But you want your interpretation to be not only the essence of this person, but also that your client shares the same view. Bottom line, you’re still a service business. In traditional portraiture, you have to have a willingness to compromise.”
photo by Sharon
Rasmussen