Max Scotto
fine artist - portrait painter
We had three most beautiful days of warm sunshine in Fife. Going to the beach was in order. We spent a lovely Tuesday at East Sands Beach in St Andrews with a nice crowd of friends. The children loved it.
There was always time to take the paints out and record the glorious vista... of course, an artist needs energy to paint and couldn't refuse the kind offer of a tasty burger!
Photographs courtesy of Michael Ross, 2016, All rights reserved.
Yesterday, after the Annual General Meeting of The Paisley Family Society, the portrait of Jane Paisley of Westerlea was unveiled in a brief and emotive ceremony. The painting was commissioned by Lady Westerlea's husband, The Much Hon. D. W. Paisley of Westerlea, 6th Baron of Westerlea, Chief of the Name and Arms of Westerlea and Chieftain of the Paisley Family Worldwide.
The first time I met Lady Westerlea there was an affable air about her. Naturally, she was also a little bit apprehensive. However, when she saw the painting almost complete I felt she began to breathe again. She smiled and embraced me spontaneously. That was the best reward for all the hours, days and months of toiling with my brush.
This project was most interesting. The amount of details in the composition required careful balance and a skilful execution. Following a planning meeting with Lady Westerlea, she sat for me twice in Ardtalla, their charming Victorian home. Of course, I spent hundreds of hours in my studio working on this painting.
For the first sitting, I had suggested a light coloured dress with a silk tartan sash. Instead, Lady Westerlea preferred a brown embroidered dress that had belonged to her mother-in-law and a Westerlea Tartan woollen shawl. Both items made a statement about her role: a loving wife who had embraced the family she married into and all that this family stands for. The juxtaposition of a delicate garment with a more serviceable material produced a fascinating effect. It was city and country life combined, perhaps revealing a facet of Lady Westerlea's delicate personality.
Lady Westerlea sat for me in a handsomely carved chair in her teal room, by the window and close to the fireplace, her favourite spot where she often does sewing. Her glance contained a mixture of Scotland, womanhood and determination; a triad that fascinated me. She resembled a monarch on her throne.
I was captivated by Lady Westerlea's serene gaze and I loved the way in which her beautiful brooch sparkled in the light.
If it was my choice I would always paint from life, because the tapestry of life offers a range of experiences that cannot be perceived by other means. The sense of dimension and environmental factors like sound, air and the human interaction must be experienced by the artist to be properly interpreted and conveyed in the painting. The process of sitting also helps to establish a bridge between the souls of the sitter and the artist.
Of course, sitting for a portrait is not always possible. For example, when painting a posthumous portrait, reliance on photographs is almost always the only option available. People also lead busy lives so often they simply do not have the time to sit for many sessions to have their portrait painted entirely from life. Therefore, one needs to know when and how to use photographs to supplement the information gathered during the sitting. I feel this is very important: supplement what life offers when life is unavailable, but never replace life itself.
These considerations also force the portrait painter, or at least me, to paint rapidly and make the most of every single minute I am with my sitter. Under these circumstances, it always amazes me the amount of information one can gather in two or three hours of concentrated effort.
The illustrations below show a portrait painting demonstration I carried out yesterday at Balgonie Castle. The sitter is none the less than the Laird of Balgonie and Eddergoll, who has sat for me a few times. In that respect, I had an advantage; it was a familiar face and a face that I consider most painterly.
The images also show what can be achieved in a couple of hours of painting alla prima (directly, in one go; as opposed to the traditional way in which I paint larger pieces, working in stages and with multiple layers). Painting alla prima is a wonderful way to learn about the subject, to gather information about colour, mood and, quite simply, to achieve a fresh and painterly impression of the sitter.
In this last photograph I have made sure that on my screen the colours appear as closely as they do in the final painting. Of course this will vary according to the calibration of your screen, that is why nothing can compare with seeing my paintings "face to face".
When my client and I discussed the methodology for this painting it became clear that we were not going to let distance become an obstacle between us. My client was in Germany, near Cologne, I was in Scotland and travelling was not practical at the time so we had to look for an alternative.
We agreed to use a combination of photographic references supplemented with life sittings by means of a video conferencing system. I worked on some compositions from my imagination and submitted some sketches. The chosen one was further developed into a colour study in oils. In turn, this became the blueprint for the final painting.
Sketch in charcoal accepted for the final composition.
Small Colour Study in Oils.
We used live the video conferencing system to discuss poses and do quick sketches. The rest had to be painted from photographs. Of course, painting only from photographs may reduce the need for travelling and the time required from the sitter, but portraits painted simply by copying a photograph can be static and lose the freshness that is evident when a portrait has been painted from life.
In order to lessen the drawbacks of relying on a single image, I relied on a varied number of high quality photographs showing different poses and expressions. I selected the best images that would give me the information I needed to complete this work successfully. This painting was executed with a Sight-Size approach.
I did not want the painting to become the photo-copy of one single image so I used a series of photographs taken from different angles and printed exactly the same size. The images were attached to a board next to my canvas and changed regularly. This forces me to keep re-checking and adjusting what I paint. In this way, I endeavoured to achieve a similar effect as if I had been painting from life, with a subject who does not sits statue still. I hope that the result of this approach is fresher and more alike to a portrait which has been painted from life.
The subject (in this case the photograph) is next to the canvas and painted the same size I see it from a fixed point. I used different images which I changed regularly. In this way the body "moves" and the expressions "change"a bit so I must make corrections, almost constantly, to ensure that I am achieving a likeness despite these changes, just as I would do if I was painting from life.
The amount of details present in this composition also required careful balance and a skilful execution. When many details are included, there is a risk of turning the work into a painted photograph in which every aspect is completed hyper-realistically, burying the gesture and artistic energy.
Completed painting. The Baron extends his right hand in a welcoming gesture. The background shows a view of South Cadbury. The mound which breaks the horizon line is where Cadbury Castle once was, a site rich of archaeological interest as it is believed to be the seat of Camelot, where the legendary King Arthur had his court.
We worked to produce a contemporary painting which evokes a historical period. The variations in the flow of the brush strokes and paint effects allowed for a degree of irregularity, while remaining true to the rules of realism. The result of this process is not a copy of a single image, but the amalgamation of my impressions interpreted aesthetically.
I would like to extend my special thanks to my client for his confidence and support throughout this project.
The image below shows the painting as it hangs in its new home in Germany.
I love the controlled environment of portrait painting inside my studio, where I can manipulate the light, the pose and have all I need at hand. Yet, sketching outdoors (when the weather is good) is equally delightful and makes up for any lack of comfort.
Painting outdoors or en plein air, as artists would say, forces one to be quick, to observe and make rapid judgements about shapes, colour, value and temperature. It is a wonderful exercise which sharpens the painter’s skills and enhances the freshness of the works that will be later completed inside the studio.
Today we met with some friends at Ravenscraig Park, Kirkcaldy, Fife and while my son was playing with his friends I sneaked out for an hour and a half to a cool and shaded vantage point from which I had a superb view of the castle.
My friend Michael Ross, a photographer, accompanied me. He took photos of the flora and almost microscopic fauna with his special magnifying lens, while I concentrated on the castle. He also took some pictures of me working on the sketch... and when the lid of my tube of cadmium yellow got stuck, Michael was the one who could open it! Thanks my friend!
Here we go!
The portrait of Margaret Morris, Lady Balgonie and Eddergoll was presented to her family at their home Balgonie Castle, which featured in The Outlander. The painting will hang in the tower’s staircase and will be on display once the Castle reopens to the public next month.
Lady Balgonie was a much loved person, generous, thoughtful and kind. When I was painting a portrait of her husband, Lady Balgonie had been battling against ill health for some time, so I never had an opportunity to meet her face to face. She passed away unexpectedly one morning. In 2015, the Morris of Balgonie and Eddergoll Family approached me to commission a posthumous portrait of Lady Balgonie. This painting was completed by the anniversary of her death.
This was the most challenging commission I have undertaken so far. First of all, because I prefer to paint from life with a sight-size-approach (which means painting the sitter on the canvas the same size it appears in front of me). Even in those cases, where one needs to supplement this approach with photographic references, one always makes sure to have a couple of sessions from life with the sitter. Naturally, on this occasion painting it from life was out of the equation.
Another difficulty was that Lady Balgonie did not like to have her photograph taken so her family only had a handful of images available. When I use photographs as a reference, I must ensure that these are taken by me or by a photographer who can follow my specifications closely. This guarantees an adequate balance of light and shadow conducive to a good representation of volume and depth. On the other hand, photographs taken with various sources of light or, even worse, using the camera’s flash, produce weak references for classic portraiture.
Yet, with painting almost all things are possible, so for this commission I had to use my intuition and my knowledge of the behaviour of light to create an image that was convincing and portrayed an accurate likeness of Lady Balgonie. I must admit, I also studied the features of her son, Stuart Morris of Balgonie, as he resembles his mother. We cannot escape DNA and as a portrait artist I have become accustomed to looking for and recognising those features that reappear with every new generation. The background of the portrait shows a view of Loch Tay, as seen from Eddergoll in Perthshire, where Margaret and her husband began their family as the Lady and Laird of Eddergoll before moving to Balgonie Castle to become lairds of their medieval fortified home.
I twice travelled to Eddergoll where I visited Lady Balgonie’s former home, a 16th century mill house initially owned by King James II and VII. I made sketches and took some photographs too. On my last visit, across the Loch I noticed the majestic Schiehallion Hill covered with a pure mantle of snow. What breath-taking scenery! One can understand why she loved living there so much. One just becomes a speck of dust within all that splendour. Their former mill house has apex roofs with beautifully carved bargeboards, some of which were hand restored and carved by the Laird himself. I have included this feature in the portrait too.
I have endeavoured to create a convincing likeness of Lady Balgonie in a 16th century context and style, which somehow suits the stone walls of their home. Her portrait marks the beginning of their family in Eddergoll and the portrait of the Laird, which features and aerial view of Balgonie, points to the end of her life in Balgonie Castle, a poignant arrangement that reminds me of the transience of our existence.
The moment of truth had come some time ago, when her family saw the finished work for the first time and the Laird, with the voice of an old lion mellowed with an emotive note exclaimed: “Yes! That was my Margaret!” This was the greatest reward for me, for all those months of toiling and battling with my brush, my mind and my heart.
To a wonderful woman, Margaret Morris of Balgonie and Eddergoll (1938 - 2014).
This year I had the honour of painting a remarkable gentleman of a moral calibre which is becoming rare nowadays. A good man, modest and unselfishly great, whose life experience is one of the most inspiring ones I have encountered as an artist. Our conversations, the trust he gave me and the human kindness he radiates will be among the memories I cherish.
Prof. Sir Godfrey Palmer OBE, Oil on linen, 2015
Professor Sir Godfrey (Geoff) Henry Oliver Palmer OBE (b. 1940) is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and a human rights activist. He discovered the barley abrasion process while a researcher at the Brewing Research Foundation from 1968 to 1977. In 1989, he became the first black professor in Scotland, becoming a professor emeritus after he retired in 2005. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by Abertay University, the Open University and the University of the West Indies.
In 1998, Palmer became the fourth person, and the first European, to be honoured with the American Society of Brewing Chemists Award of Distinction. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2003. In 2007, the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire, Professor Geoff Palmer was named among the "100 Great Black Britons". He was knighted in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the human rights, science, and charity.
Alongside his academic work, Professor Sir Geoff is also a prominent human rights activist and is involved in a considerable amount of charity work in the community. In 2014 I got to know about him through his involvement in Social Housing. This painting was completed during two long sittings which took place this year at The Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) where the Professor serves as the Honorary President, and many more sessions alone in my studio.
Prof. Sir Geoff and me. Preparing for the second sitting at ELREC.