Best Portrait Artists: Learning from the Best

Thinking back as I work on some new children's commissions as to how indebted I am to Connie Pratt, Constance Flavell Pratt, who used to teach on the Cape for weeklong classes. I regard her workshops to be where I learned the most in terms of personal study of the face and finding ways to capture the nuances of planes and values.

Above is a photo of her from a meet and greet art occasion and of me painting from the model in about 2002.

Children's Oil Custom Portraits: a sampling of my Girl's and Boy's Oil portraits

Here are a few samples of my Children's oil and pastel custom portraits. When I began in portraiture I painted mostly in pastel and mostly children, as the clean up time was quick and materials non-toxic, something I needed at that time. The portrait of the girl above is in pastel. The boy is in oil.

I attended weeklong classes at Connie Pratt's Master Workshop on Cape Cod. We'd be painting all day from life with a lunch break, so my skills were quickly honed: accurate drawing, development of form and use of the pastel to create volume. Those were delightful days and she showed me a few of her secret techniques, when she saw how serious I was to learn all I could. I am looking forward to getting started on a pastel this fall of a woman. Working in different mediums is a wonderful way to keep one's work fresh and alive.

www.soniahale.com

Connie Pratt talk for the Wellesley Society of Artists

It was a pleasure to see Connie and her sister Jane at the Wellesley Community Center today. Connie gave a slide show of her long career in portraiture and courtroom drawing. Here she is above at one of her most important trials— the "shoebomber". Connie painted many pastel portraits over her career, as well as taught.


www.soniahale.com

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Constance Flavell Pratt to demonstrate at the Wellesley Community Center

Constance Flavell Pratt, a Master pastel artist, will be demonstrating at the Wellesley Community Center for the Wellesley Society of Artists on October 4th from 2-4 pm.

Connie was one of my first portrait teachers and one of the best. We painted from the model all day, with a new model each day. By the end of the week, my drawing skills and ability to match color values were keen.(Although one always works on these major skills over their lifetime.)

Connie, a lovely, demure, humble lady speeds off to Boston for the thrill of capturing courtroom scenes for WCVB-TV in Boston Federal Court. She shared some of her stories and sketches. Her sister Jane, was always a joy to see at these workshops as well.

I will always be grateful to Connie for de-mystifying how to work with pastels and for the great start she gave me in portraiture.


www.soniahale.com

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com.