Commissioned portrait(s) I made in the summer of 2025.
Acrylic, pastel, pencil, ink, and colored papers on canvas
30 x 40 cm
70 x 100 cm
After a few life sketches to approximate facial proportions and to test different postures, clothes, and background colors, I made a paper collage portrait on a small canvas (30 x 40 cm) based on the pastel sketches and photographs. The idea was to really study the anatomical details first in order to create strong resemblance in a vital way.
After this ‘practice portrait’ I switched to a larger canvas (70 x 100 cm) and tried to recreate the resemblance and vitality achieved in the smaller format—which turned out to be more difficult than I thought. It took a complete replacement of one eye in the end, and still the overall appearance is slightly too young.
So in the end there are two versions of the portrayed: one more mature woman and one a little more girlish. Two facets of one soul.
While the large one was an anniversary gift and is now in an apartment in Berlin, the small one found its place on this beautiful red wall in Potsdam.
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