Oil Works by John Nazal


American Impressionist



Portrait of maría bader nazal



Jul 24, 2012



John created this posthumous 18 x 24in portrait of his grandmother to remember her industrious character and love for knitting. At the time of the sourced family picture, the arthritis in her hands was quite advanced and noticeable. A true challenge to depict




BACK TO THE MAIN COLLECTION

initial blocking



Blocking the dark areas from the start was key in achieving this painting since her black sweater is very contrasty and a hard to work edge



initial drawing



Right at the beginning, John knew that the hands and the highlight of her glasses would be the focal points of the portrait



old blury source photograph



The bad quality of the old original source photograph made it very challenging to see the details, some of which had to be depicted on a best guess basis



the final product



John treasures this painting that is placed at a central point in his home to remember her "Grandma" forever. 18 x 24in was definitely the right size for this portrait



the silk foulard



The original photograph shows very little details of her favorite light blue foulard



eyeglass highlights



Note the eyeglasses highlights and reflections that give the right amount of transparency and light value against her skin



arthritic hands



These are her arthritic hands from the original picture. A true challenge to paint





oilworks@nazal.org