Small Edits

Moved the rest of my old portraits into the slideshow despite still only having poor shots of them; also made a couple of tweaks to the FAQ to better represent the fact that I am accustomed to working from photos; this is the additional text:

How do I submit reference photos?

If a subject lives far away or for any reason is unable to participate in sittings, I am happy to work from photos sent by email or regular post.

FAQ

I've posted some better photos of my four most recent portraits, I only had the camera for a little while so I took photos of the portrait of Aisling even though it isn't completely finished yet. I couldn't get the lighting quite right so there's still quite a bit of glare coming off of them; I tried to correct for it, but I'm still probably going to need to get them professionally done at some point when I've saved up a bit more. It's better than nothing for now though. You can see full-size versions of them by clicking on the slideshow on the right.

I'm heading off to a charity event today, I'll hopefully be getting some commissions out of it; I wrote up this quick FAQ to give out to people along with my business cards and I thought I'd post it up here as well:

Portraiture FAQ
A hand-painted portrait is an expression of beauty as well as a piece of documentation, it can enrich your surroundings as a decorative object of art while telling the story of a moment. a professionally painted oil-portrait is a treasure at once more personal and more mysterious than any photo.

An art commission is a great gift for loved ones or yourself, to celebrate any momentous occasion; such as a wedding or anniversary, promotion, birthday, retirement, or simply as a spontaneous gift given in the spirit of love or friendship. A portrait will bring immediate joy and satisfaction, and can become an heirloom passed down to later generations.


What materials do you use?

My portraits are produced with high quality oil paints on hand stretched linen canvas, or a pre-stretched cotton duck canvas. Depending on the needs of the piece I can also work on wood, masonite or heavy paper.

All the materials are top quality and archival; so with proper care they will last for generations. After a one year drying period, at the owner's discretion, I will give the piece a coat of protective varnish at no additional charge.


How much does a portrait cost?

The price of a portrait is based on a number of factors:

• Size of painting

• Number of people being painted

• Complexity of clothes and background

• Time restraints

Payment is typically given in two installments, with a down payment of half the commission at the beginning of the process and the other half once the piece is completed. Previous commissions have ranged in price from approximately $350 - $1250.


Do you paint from life or photographs?

It is my preference to spend as much of the process as possible painting directly from life. If a subject is unable to participate in multiple sittings I can easily work from good, clear photographs as well. Whenever possible I will take these photographs myself.


How long does it take?

If painting from life, work will generally take place over the course of 6-10 90 minute sittings per person being painted. These sittings are primarily to work on the face and hands. I will take photographs at these sittings in order to do further work on details, background, jewelry and clothing. The entire process can take from two weeks to two months, dependent on the complexity of the piece as well as the schedules of myself and the subject. If there is a time limitation, a faster schedule can be worked out.

Where do live sittings occur?

I can travel to my subject and work in house, but due to practical concerns it is generally easier if work occurs at my studio currently located in Northeast Portland.

My Background

Dana Henderson has worked as an artist his entire life, and is a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art.
He has work hanging in Massachusetts, California, Oregon and Southern France.

Aisling early work

Just a couple of days into this one.

2 Kates - Midpoint

When I started working on this commission there was a little back and forth with the client about which photo to use; I liked one and they preferred another, but eventually left the final decision up to me. I wasn't sure what photo to use. Since I'm still waiting on a new roll of canvas to arrive I've been buying pre-stretched canvasses, and the art store happened to be having a 2 for one sale at the size I wanted to use; that was reason enough for me to decide to just do both photos simultaneously. These are both unfinished; but the finals will remain fairly loose.

Ben Finish; and Kate underpainting

Well, I've finally finished the painting of Ben; I might do some touchups on a few things once it's fully dried. Boy, that took way longer than it should have.

I've also started early work on my next piece. It's a simpler sort of 'palate cleanser' I'm doing before I tackle the bigger commission I have in the pipeline. These small and rougher portraits are really my favorite thing to do.

I'll also point out that these photos have been taken on my Camera Phone, so they aren't exactly the best quality. Once I have a few finished pieces together, I'll do more professional photography session of them all.

Ben Progress

Was sick for a while, but I've started working in my studio again; coming close to finishing this one.

Ben Progress

Been working on the painting of Benjamin; it's a little slow going because I have to work on 4 faces at once, and I'm juggling it with a few other projects. Here are some photos of it at various stages so far. It's oil on an 18 x 24 canvas.

New sketches

I'm in a studio space finally; don't have any new paintings at a stage that I'm ready to show yet; but I can post some of the compositional sketches I've done for the two pieces I'm currently working on.

Sketch

Sketch of a woman done for practice.

Benjamin Rough

I've been doing some sketches in preparation for a portrait of a young boy that I've been planning to do once I'm back in a studio space.  Mostly pencil drawings that I can't scan right now, but I did do a quick color rough on the computer.  It doesn't quite capture him, but that's why you do these sketches.

Recent Work

This is a painting of my college roommate that I did for no reason in particular. It ended up winning the grand prize at a regional art event in my hometown.

Commissioned portrait of a Swedish lady that I became friends with in France. It's one of the few portraits I've done in which I had the luxury of painting from a live model for a significant portion of the process. I painted on-site at her home for most of a day, with fairly frequent breaks to watch the Beijing Olympics as they were broadcast. I spent about a week and a half finishing it with photo reference. I'm quite unhappy with this photo of the painting, as it's lacking most of the color and detail in the original. I'll try and post a better photo someday.

A quick pencil portrait done of my cousin as a christmas gift.

This is the teenage daughter of one of our neighbors in France.  I presented it to them as a gift for all the help they had given me during the time I had spent there.  This was one of my quicker portraits, with the actual work taking place over the course of about a day and a half.  I tried to stay as loose with the brush-strokes as I could while still retaining a likeness.

Commissioned portrait done from an old black and white photograph that had been poorly colorized.  I decided to switch it to a sepia tone rather than full color, and eliminated the background to emphasize the silhouette of the rider.  It was a little difficult to make out details, so I tried to bring out the sharpest and most clean elements of the Indian motorcycle that was pictured.  It was a fun piece to do.