WELCOME TO HILARY PAGE'S PORTRAIT & FIGURE GALLERY

"Mother at 93. February 2003" 30"X22"

I placed the figure low in the painting to emphasize the stooped posture, characteristic of old age. If you paint a portrait of the elderly remember that wrinkles and furrows are not just lines. They mark the base of shallow undulations like a river in a valley and should be shaded as such.
 

"Old Chinese Man with Beard" 22"X15"

This old Chinese man posed at one of my local model lab. groups. I decided to make him particularly distinguished  by giving him a large white beard. I designed the beard based on the various beards that make up the total beard- the moustache, the goatee, the beard of center of chin, beard of corner of chin, beard of cheek, beard of sideburns, beard of throat. You can see the sections if you study the beard here carefully.

 

 
Robert 30"X22"
"Nora"
Watercolor
Size 22" X 30"


Nora is temperamental. But like all good models she projects a presence which makes her exciting to paint. I did this painting at one of our local model "lab" sessions in Houston. I worked on it back in my studio to refine the design and details on the hands and feet.
"The Wedding" 22"X30" Watercolor and Cassein   I started this painting on site at the rehearsal. I then had to piece together a composition from a number of odd sized, amateur photographs taken during the wedding.! It was hard to get the proportions of the figures to work as a group  Squint at the painting and you will note the interesting shape made by a combination of the mass of figures in the for-ground and the background landscape.. Also note the shadows cast by the bride and groom as they merge in an embrace: Artistic invention of course!

Please email me if you would like me to do a commission painting of a wedding and we can work out the logistics.
Mary 22"X15"

Foreshortened poses like this one are fun and a challenge  to do.  If you imagine the figure as a foreshortened rectangular block then you can get a feel for how the lines converge at a vanishing point-

 
Cameron 15"X11"

Portraying the sweetness of young children's faces, getting a likeness and keeping the painting fresh are a challenge in watercolor.
Martha 22"X15"