Adrian Gottlieb

 

I had been keeping my eye on the work of Adrian Gottlieb. A former student of the Florence Academy I find his work to be striking, especially because of its link to the past and the feel of Florentine painters from 400 years ago.

Adrian phoned me one day to introduce himself and tell me about a commission he was doing for an Earl in England. This Earl was commissioning a portrait, could choose any painter in the world (price was no object) and the painting was to hang alongside generations of family members who were painted by Reynolds, Van Dyke, Rubens, Gainsborough, and numerous others. The Duke and his advisors evaluated hundreds of painters and decided upon Gottlieb. He was to be in England working on the massive portrait for five months.

At the time of our conversation I told Adrian about the Portrait Project and we agreed to an arrangement for him to paint me upon return from England. Upon his return five months later Adrian needed a break to catch up from having been gone and a year passed before we connected again. When we connected Adrian asked me to sit for several weeks, which was simply not possible with my schedule. He had wanted to use his grisaille technique, which involved multiple layers and glazes. It starts out with a monochromatic palette of warm and cool shares of gray It is this technique, which he used on the painting of the Earl, and though it would have been my preference I could not take the time. Photographs are not an option; I insist on being painted from life and Adrian prefers not to paint from photos. We compromised and Adrian agreed to use a hybrid technique, which allowed him to use some of his technique in combination with direct painting.

I sat for two days at his studio in Los Angeles and returned a month later for another two days. Frankly Adrian would have preferred a couple more days, however I was booked solid for months and time was not available. 

Of all the painters who have done my portrait, I found Adrian to be the most intense and detailed.For instance the first morning was taken up by drawing the likeness (with brush on the surface). He was using a sight size method and he spent a very long time checking, rechecking, looking in the mirror, looking in a black mirror, and making sure that he had the measurements and drawing exact. It was impressive to see him take this level of effort, however it makes complete sense because this is the foundation of everything. Adrian is a perfectionist and in this world of get-it-done quick I found it refreshing to meet someone so serious about his profession and so exacting in every detail.

Adrian started with a lightly toned surface, which he had prepared himself. He insists on preparing his boards. He is highly selective about the canvas he uses, the process of using rabbit skin glue, lead primer, sanding, more coats, more sanding, etc. He refuses to use purchased surfaces because he cannot find any, which live up to his standards. 

Adrian then painted in the cartoon (which is the term used for the preliminary drawing in the exact size of the final work), he then gave it shape by painting in the darks. On day two after a night of drying Adrian painted in the lights with lead white, which gives flesh tones a glow when painted or glazed.

A month later I returned for session three and four, which were when Adrian used a direct painting method over the underpainting. We used every bit of the allocated time and when I left the portrait was close to finished, only requiring some work on the background and slight finish work.

Adrian was personable. Some painters like to talk a lot while painting, others not at all. Adrian was a little of both... always concentrating but always taking some time to share stories, and techniques. I had asked Adrian to position a mirror so that I could view the process of creating the portrait, which was like having a personal instructor for a four day demonstration. 

Comments

[Vicky]

Excelente artist, very talented

[Miguel]

Adrian Gottlieb is one of my favorite living artists. Thanks for sharing the process he uses.

[amplificador]

Hi to every body, it's my first visit of this web site; this website contains remarkable and in fact excellent data designed for visitors.

[Garcinia Cambogia]

My brother recommended I might like this blog. He was entirely right. This post actually made my day. You can not imagine just how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!

[Eric Rhoads]

This is Eric Rhoads (not Adrian) but there are many vendors who do sell lead paint. I know Adrian got a lot of his paints from ROBERT DOAK in Brooklyn, NY though I dont know if this is still the case.

[Elizabeth Naramore]

Adrian Beautiful work.where do I find lead paint? I do portraits and study,study many hours your tecnique.In the portrait,Sara Staring, what is the shadow pink or siena on her blouse? Elizabeth [email protected]

[Marc Brunet]

Would like to know If Adrian has a DVD on painting the portrait he's so great we would all benefit from this fine artist.

Thank you Marc Brunet