Nude Portrait Artist - Available for Commissions

11/08/202326/01/2024

How to Commission a Nude Portrait

Have you ever thought about commissioning a nude portrait painting?

I am often asked if I paint nude portraits. Yes, I do. It’s really not much different from a regular portrait.
I can work from photos you provide if you prefer. Not everyone is comfortable posing nude, but I do everything I can to make models feel comfortable in my studio. If you want to provide your own photos, I can give advice about lighting and poses.
The best results would be from an in-person sitting. I do some drawings first, trying out different poses and looking for the most complementary light. Then we can choose one pose and I will take some photos of you for reference. I will use the photos and the drawings to make a painting.

I have a studio where we can do the sitting, or I can travel to you. Sometimes that’s better, because you will probably feel more comfortable posing at home.

lifemodel in front of drawings — life model posing in studio

Sometimes the best poses are not planned, but can happen by accident. The body might look a certain way in a particular light; a quick look might show more of you than a pose you prepared. If we have a three hour session, we have a better chance of finding that one perfect position that expresses what you want.

nude female model sitting on bed — An example of an unplanned pose that worked well – the model was just taking a break between poses

Have a look at my page How to Commission a Nude Portrait which will answer the most frequent questions. If you want more information or would like to discuss a commission then please contact me via the email address on my contact page.

01/06/202327/09/2023

Man and Woman

“Man and Woman” is a painting that I thought was finished over ten years ago. I’ve suffered years of nagging doubts, and a real reluctance to show it publicly, such that I finally decided to rework it.
It was only going to be a small amendment, but in the end I had to repaint the entire surface.

It’s debatable about how much the revision is an improvement. The poses are almost identical. Some people might prefer the earlier version. That’s irrelevant. I feel that the later revision is much closer to the painting that I tried to produce in 2009. Although the original version was no doubt true to the reference photos I was working from, I don’t think it captured a true likeness of the female figure.

I should explain something about the background to this painting. My partner had just passed away after a long illness, and in a splurge of activity I set about working on a series of paintings that recorded my lost partner and our relationship. Most had been planned while she was still alive (I had taken reference photos and made preparatory sketches), but sadly her poor health meant I was unable to work on them at the time. This was the last of that series, and for some reason it was the only one I was unhappy with.

The problem with resuming work on a painting after such a long time is that my painting technique has changed over the years. I still start with a monochrome underpainting, but my palette of colours has changed considerably, I use different mediums, and my use of glazes has become more restrained.
Nevertheless it was an interesting exercise. The photo below shows a lighter palette in the revised painting.

Another interesting aspect of this exercise is that I no longer have the original reference photos. Much of the work on my late partner’s face was done from memory, which would normally have been outside my comfort zone. One area where my painting has changed is that I am less beholden to reference photos, and feel more confident to wander off track. I believe that I have achieved a better likeness here by doing just that.
In writing this post, and looking at photos of the two versions side by side, it does feel like a lot of work for only a small change. But it was worth it. I feel happier showing it now.

Edit: “Man and Woman” has since been shortlisted for the LGC Art Prize 2023
A recent post about the competition can be found here: LGC Art Prize

26/10/202005/10/2023

ING Discerning Eye

I’m very pleased to learn that my painting “I did not ask” has been accepted into this year’s ING Discerning Eye exhibition.

I did not ask

I did not ask my model about the scars on her arms. Despite working with her regularly and being on familiar terms, I never once broached the subject of those scars, and in my paintings of her I never showed them.
A couple of years after this sitting I read the book “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara – a difficult and troubling read, but extremely moving. As I read about the main character’s self-harming and how his friends were all quietly aware of it, but never spoke of it, I thought again about my model bearing her scars in silence. That is what compelled me to find the sketches and photos from that sitting, and to produce this.

I think this painting is just as much about my own reaction to those marks on her forearms, and my awkward silence.

The ING Discerning Eye annual exhibition is a show of small works independently selected by six prominent figures from different areas of the art world: two artists, two collectors and two critics.
The selectors choose both publicly submitted works and works by personally invited artists. Each selector’s section is hung separately to give each its own distinctive identity. The impression emerges of six small exhibitions within the whole.

The exhibition website is here.

02/08/201914/02/2024

Commission a Nude Portrait

Me posing in front of two commissions and a self portrait. Leegate Open Studios 2018.

Following on from my recent post about commissioning a portrait, I thought I’d add a quick post about less conventional portraits. Over the years, I would say that the majority of enquiries I receive about commissioning a painting are for commissioning a nude portrait.

The two nude paintings in the photo above make an interesting case study. Both clients already had a good idea of how they wanted to be portrayed. Subject 1 (female sitter on left), was able to pose in their own home, and had few restrictions on their time. The first sitting was spent making sketches of various poses. In the second sitting I produced a more detailed pencil drawing, from which I was able to start the painting. There followed a few painting sessions, each lasting about three hours. In between I was able to work from a reference photo to bring the painting forward.

commissioned portrait of woman after breast mastectomy — woman sat on bed

Subject 2 (male model in centre, behind me) chose to pose in the studio. Because there was already agreement on what the pose would be, we were able to compress the whole preparatory process into one sitting. We started with preliminary drawings, constantly adjusting the lights, and then spent the rest of the sitting taking photos. At that stage I was happy that I had all the material I needed, and was able to complete the painting without further sittings.

I hope that sheds some light onto the process involved in commissioning an artwork. Exactly the same applies to a conventional portrait painting. I should add that if it’s not possible to arrange an in person sitting, I am able to work from photos supplied by the customer. In that situation I can give direction on the pose, background and lighting. If I am asked to work from old photos, I like to see a number of photos of the subject, to give me a better idea of what they look like, which gives me the option of swapping elements from different photos.

For more information look at Commission a Nude Portrait

If you have any questions about a possible commission, please get in touch via the email on the Contact page.