About portraiture

At the academy, I had a professor in portraiture who always seemed a little mysterious to me. Walking somewhat like a puppet, his gestures were very expressive. He always said that a good portrait is both three-dimensional and has to have a well-built structure. These were two things with which I immediately agreed. Although we never saw one of his works, I am convinced that he must have been a very fine portrait painter. He only taught me for a year but from then on portraiture was my passion.

First, a good portrait is three-dimensional, built with light and shadow. It must be well-built so that you can see how the other side should look. In order to "feel" this other side, you have to know how an eye turns around the corner; you have to realize that the outer corner of the eye is actually on the side of the face, to realize that a nose has a front, two sides and a bottom. It is mainly a question of perspective. I think this is the reason why many people find portraiture so difficult. Perspective is a science! But a very beautiful science that shows me a "different face" every time. Each time you have to start from scratch and fight to get a little further than the last time. Yet, it is the most pleasurable fight I know.