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artwork, please visit the site listed below.

As a child, when other children were drawing stick figures, I was drawing faces. And although I once painted still lifes, landscapes and abstractions, almost all of my professional life has been devoted to portraits. In fact, today I work exclusively in portraiture. People remain my greatest interest.

Trying to capture a human likeness is the greatest challenge an artist can tackle. By likeness I mean far more than the simple reproduction of their image. Technical excellence is important, of course. I do not believe a portrait can be merely an abstract "essence" of a subject. Many things, such as anatomy and composition, are important and should be mastered before moving on to the spiritual element. But a portrait is not complete for me until I feel I have captured on canvas the inner spirit of my subject, that which defines them as individual, unique beings. I will not call a portrait a success before it tells the viewer something of the essential nature of the subject.

I have to get to know my subject before I can begin to paint. I cannot even decide on a pose until I have some sense of who the subject is. I like to interact with my subject and get to know the things that make them happy and those things which bother them. What are their concerns, their hopes, their ambitions, their disappointments? When these questions are answered, then the portrait itself will come together in my mind and I can begin to paint. Children are the easiest to know, because they are so naturally open. Adults can take more time as they have learned to present a face to the world that might not show the whole truth.

Within each subject there is something of the face of God. It is my responsibility to find that 'something' and to convey it to the viewer.

The work of portraitist June Elizabeth Blackstock can be seen at: http://www.portraitartist.com/blackstock

You can email June Elizabeth Blackstock at jebportraits@juno.com