Michael Britton: A Selection of Tronies
A tronie is a character study which, for me, is the essence of portrait painting. My painting voice invokes a tactile, sculptural sensibility informed by the bravura brush work of Frans Hals.
A successful painting carries weight. The paint works as flesh. It should not appear belabored but to have emerged effortlessly. But that is an illusion. Underlying the seeming effortless is an additive/subtractive architecture of geometry and planar structures contributing to a unified expression.
A note on copying
It is through copying masterworks that the language and syntax of painting is acquired. It is a process that deepens your understanding of what makes great art work and what doesn't work.
No one comes out of nowhere. Originality springs from an informed foundation.
