Several categories of portrait painting from the beginning till the end of the 1990s
Portraits VI
portraits from c. 1990-92
Brush painting with ink on rice paper. Elements of Chinese philosophy, especially calligraphy, are dominant.
Portraits V
portraits from c. 1988 – 90
Overpainted prints, partially overdrawing or distorting the original portrait.
Portraits IV
portraits from c. 1985 – 88
The works are mostly in A4 format and tend towards abstraction or expressionism.
Portraits III
portraits from c. 1984 – 86
Large format works, painted with Indian ink on rice paper and partly using my own techniques.
Portraits II
portraits from the early China years 1978 – 85
This creative period is still strongly influenced by Western concepts and techniques. The portraits show Chinese, but the techniques are still largely European.
Portraits I
early portraits in western style from the beginning to 1978
The works from this period are mostly oil paintings, pastels, and mixed media. They are western oriented some expressionist.
Some of the artwork is available at saatchi gallery others at artmajeur
Please check blog posts on these and similar topics: https://zettl.blog/journals/
about portrait painting
Portraiture is an art genre in which an artist creates a representation of a specific person, usually a person’s face or head. The purpose of portraiture is to capture the likeness, personality, and mood of the subject. Throughout history, portraiture has been an important means of preserving the memory of individuals, be they royalty, leaders or ordinary people.
We can find some of the earliest portrait paintings in ancient Egypt, where paintings of pharaohs and their families decorate tomb walls. Portrait busts and statues were also popular in ancient Greece and Rome. In the Middle Ages we find portraiture primarily in religious art, with depictions of saints and religious figures.
Portrait painting never played a major role in China. Apart from depictions of emperors and ancestors, humans usually only appear as small parts of a large landscape.
There are many different techniques and styles used in portraiture, ranging from realism to impressionism to abstraction. Some of the most popular techniques are oil painting, watercolor, and charcoal drawing. The choice of technique and style often depends on the artist’s personal preferences and the desired effect.