The length of time it takes to paint a portrait can vary greatly even between two portraits of similar size, composition and background. The simple answer is that it takes many hours of sketching, painting, analyzing, and more painting, to keep the portrait moving towards completion and that for each portrait the time spent at each stage can be wildly different.
Elizabeth Whelan has found that instead of counting hours she simply starts the process and aims for a level of excellence and completion that she will recognize when she sees it, and at that point the painting is finished.
Although it is possible to work diligently towards, for example, an unveiling on a particular date, unlike her illustration work it is not possible to cut corners and work in a different style in order to make a very short deadline. For this reason she, like the majority of portrait artists, gives a wide window of 2 to 6 months to complete a painting based on the size and complexity of the portrait and other commissions scheduled.
And in any art museum, portraits are everywhere: in every style, color, and size, from every country and created by every type of artist.
In a portrait's brushstrokes we find a path connecting us to another human on a timeless level.
Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, van Gogh and Rembrandt's many self-portraits, these are just a few of the well-known portraits that have come down to us through the ages. Their popularity is testimony to the power and value of capturing personality, character, and aspect, on canvas.
Oil paint captures the living qualities of the human face and body like no other medium. Skillfully handled, the portrait transcends technique and draws the viewer in, and a single artist creates a treasure for us all.