Having your portrait painted by a professional artist can show your best side to future generations, commemorate a major milestone such as your wedding or retirement\u00a0or simply provide an opportunity to inspire (and hang out with) Long Island\u2019s masters of the paint brush. <\/p>\n
Posing for a portrait, whether you\u2019re sitting in front of a class or commissioning artwork for a wall at home, \u201cgives you an opportunity to be observed and celebrated through someone else\u2019s eyes,\u201d said Marianne Della Croce, executive director of the Art League of Long Island art school and gallery in Dix Hills. \u201cTo be seen by an artist allows our character to blossom on canvas.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt immortalizes you,\u201d said Kenneth Jackson, 61, of Freeport, a painter and a New York City Public Schools visual arts teacher in Brooklyn. Jackson began painting models\u2019 faces while studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and earned a master\u2019s in fine arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. He\u2019s completed hundreds of portraits, most recently of a bride and groom and three other family members as a gift for a wedding in Puerto Rico. <\/p>\n
Jackson begins by asking the client to text a photo. \u201cIf I need to, I will come talk to them, take some pictures of my own and then I\u2019ll go back and start painting.\u201d He specializes in oils, at prices ranging from $200 to $2,000 depending on the size of the portrait and the number of people in it. <\/p>\n
During a 30-year career, Dave Peikon, 68, of Bethpage, an Art League of Long Island painting instructor, has created about 150 portraits including those of notables such as Old Westbury Gardens preservationist Mary Phipps, Nobel Laureate James Watson of Cold Spring Harbor and former Long Island University President David Steinberg, the latter on his retirement. While Peikon no longer \u201cactively\u201d seeks portrait work, he\u2019ll accept a commission \u201cif it\u2019s an interesting sitter,\u201d he said by text from Sicily, where he\u2019s working on a series of landscapes. Fees range from $4,000 for a small painting to $35,000 for large scale portraits, he says. <\/p>\n
Although many portrait artists work from photos, some still go old-school and ask you to sit for them, said Jeff Ommundsen, 59, of St. James, who moonlights as an artist\u2019s model in local figure-drawing classes. <\/p>\n
To avoid cramping up during your posing session, find a \u201cvery comfortable position, especially if it\u2019s going to be a long pose,\u201d Ommundsen said. Every 20 minutes, ask for a few minutes break and \u201cshake out\u201d your body, he adds. <\/p>\n