Principle Gallery

For those of you who were unable to make our Face Off exhibition and live demonstration on Saturday, we had a great turnout for both the audience and artwork! Elizabeth Floyd, Cindy Procious, and Mia Bergeron were the participating artists who painted portraits of, artist and friend of the gallery, Tom Mewborn.

Before Saturday, the artists were given images of Mewborn to practice proportions and skin tones in advance. Then on the day of the event, each artist prepared their panels for the 3-hour demonstration in their own way. Mia Bergeron, for example, used a view finder and mirror to visualize the dimensions of Mewborn’s profile.

After painting an initial layer of paint on the panels, the artists prepared their painting palettes with an assortment of colors. The artists placed the primary colors around the palettes’ edge to have the ability to mix the paint in the center; this technique allowed for an array of colors at the artists’ disposal.

When the event started, each artist made quick linear strokes to create the outline of the model’s face. With the guidelines of his facial features in place, the artists gradually applied paint according to the color variations of his skin and hair then filled in the different spatial planes of his profile. In due time and with great precision, the paintings came to life.

Only having five-minute breaks throughout the duration of the demonstration, the artists’ endurance proved successful, each producing beautiful renditions of Mewborn’s portrait. The ability of a camera’s facial recognition to identify the portraits as a living person is also evidence of each artists’ expertise.

If you would like to see more live demonstrations, our next similar event is the day after Gavin Glakas’ solo exhibition on Friday, October 14th. His live painting demonstration will be on Saturday, October 15th. To see our other upcoming events and the works from the Face Off exhibition, please click this link for our homepage!

The Principle Gallery would also like to thank Tom Mewborn for offering his time for this event as well as Cindy, Mia, and Elizabeth who gave us the opportunity to see their talent in action!