The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

visual Portrait Painting by Elizabeth Smily Portrait painting is the most demanding and exacting of all the visual arts, but also. 1 think, the most exciting and rewarding one. I am constantly aw are that a job well done can give an enormous amount of pleasure not only to oneself, but to others as well. When someone has a well-executed portrait of a person they love, they have something they can enjoy now. and also hand down to future generations. We all hope to be remcm-bcred. and remembered at our best and most attractive. A portrait provides a touch of immortality. Bui a portrait is more than just a subject and a paint brush. Training, studio conditions and techniques must all be of the painting, there may well be subtle changes in the subject (hair. mood, etc.) I therefore decide on the best angles and lighting, and do a loose overall painting. I establish the composition to my satisfaction, giving thought to the colour scheme and whether I am going to have a light, dark or medium background. To do this pre-liminary layout. I work with a thin, turpsy paint that lends itself to alteration. This has the added benefit of giving me time to get to know the subject. One excellent way to develop these techniques is through the drawing of animals. They arc constantly moving, and so one must leam to get the essential lines drawn quicklv. This helps the eye to analyze form and movement and develops eye/hand coordination. This forces one to think and draw quickly, because there is time for no more than a minimum of detail. Lighting considerations are among the most important, and therefore sometimes involve very difficult decisions. It is always preferable to have daylight for true skin tones, but this is obviously not always possible. Therefore a studio must have flood lights. I find ii exciting to play about with variations of lighting, such as a cool light on one side of the face and a warm flood light on the other side. I also sometimes place a model with the light of a window behind them. When forced to do a 1 often run into problems because people who can only come to pose at night are often tired and fidgety after a day's work. Floods, however, give definite shadows and consequently it is very important that the subject keep the pose. At this point some portrait-painters resort to the use ol photographs. 1 have strong reservations about this. I would rather make the extra effort neccssarv to continue with painting from life, regardless of the added complications. With photographs, you run the risk of losing freshness and spontaneity. When laced with posthumous portraits or other problems where one can't work from life, photographs are obviously essential. But they are no substitute for painting from life and no student will ever leam to be a good painter by copying photos. To conclude. I enjoy painting any subject. E\en when I do a landscape. I approach it as if it were a portrait. A tree has as much individuality as a person, and a scene offers an amazing variety of individual "portraits" for me to paint. But for me. A n . A c c e Sum human portraits are the real challenge. They are especially exciting and enormously fulfilling. A l l the same, I am almost never completely satisfied w ith any painting 1 do. and know I never will be. I am still learning, and know there will be always something more to leam as long as I can still hold a brush. ii Elizabeth Smily II. r resident and portrait painter. r/y completed a portrait of r haberdasher Murray Goldman. Women Artists to Play Major Role in Monument Project by Calc Jones The Women's Monument Project is going to build a monument naming the 14 women who were murdered in Montreal on December 6. 1989 and dedicated to all women affected by male violence. The project is sponsored by Capilano College Women's Centre. Each year, thousands of women are murdered by men. The Monument Project Committee believes that new methods of coping with the fear, anger and pain caused by violence against women are needed. The monument will provide a focus for healing and a symbol of remembrance. It is only one part of the I was most fortunate in that the school i attended at age 11 had an excellent art teacher. Because of her interest in me, my parents were alerted to my early potential and I started private art lessons immediately. I therefore had the benefit of carls and comprehensive training that served as an excellent precursor to my later formal schooling. Not everyone, however, has such early opportunities. If you are a late starter, the most important consideration in developing your skill as a portrait painter is the study of drawing. It is essential to leum how IO draw. By drawing I mean more than just applying pencil to paper. The discipline of academic drawing leehnic|ues and constant application of ihem cannot be over emphasized for anyone seriously interested in becoming a portrait painter. There are really no shortcuts. The importance of the life class, or drawing from the human figure, cannot be overemphasized. Life class develops your ability to catch the essential lines. Prior to life drawing, it is necessary to leam some anatomy. Then one goes through the process of learning about bone structure and musculature from life classes. Thus, sessions involve both quick sketches and long poses. Once you can draw and paint a human figure, you can draw or paint anything. You can more readily understand the subtle nuances thai differentiate one person's face and body from another's. It would be wonderful indeed if one could have the perfect studio conditions at all times in which to execute a portrait. The ideal situation would provide ihe high north light in a large room. The studio would allow you to have everything well organized with all the essentials at hand. However, the perfect studio, as wonderful as it can be. will not guarantee good work, although it can help to reduce the stress of working under less-than-perfect conditions. I have had this ideal setup just a few times in my life. One of the biggest problems ot portrait painting is that of continuity. It is rare that the subject is able to give sittings close enough togeiher so that you can paint "wet into wet," which is so ideal with oils. Moreover, the sittings may be as much as a week or more apart, and by the completion The Women's Monument Project plans to erect the monument in Vancouver's Vanier Park. The design will be the outcome of a Canada-wide competition open to female college and university students. Incorporated into the monument's design will be a surface made of slate, upon which visitors can write--in chalk--something of significance to them. A pathway leading up to the monument will inscribe the names of all the project' donors. The desi from art npctition will target entries Each year, thousands of women are murdered by men. . A l l entrants must be enrolled ; in a college or university. Single as well as cooperative efforts by two or more designers are welcome. It is anticipated that the entry deadline will be December 1, 1992. The competition advisors will consist of an artist, an architect and an engineer. The jury' will be made up of two 3dimensional artists, one engineer, one architect and one feminist historian. For further information on the Women's Monument Project, call Cate Jones at 254-3831 or Kelly Phillips at 988-0025.