Not an Easy Task

My teacher, Everett Raymond Kinstler, Loften said that when he looked at a painting, he was looking for three things: feeling, imagination, and the ability to communicate those first two.

We recently completed our 17th year of hosting the Portrait Society's Members Only Competition. I volunteered to judge the Commissioned Portrait category and appointed four fellow artists with extensive experience—Mary Whyte, Dawn Whitelaw, Elizabeth Zanzinger and Johanne Mangi—in jurying for the other four categories. Each judge was tasked with reviewing the work in a fair, unbiased manner and based their decisions on a myriad of factors, including technical proficiency and skill in the submitted medium and aesthetic qualities that included originality and uniqueness.

I believe our judges rose to the challenge, and included on these pages are the First-Place winners along with comments from our jurors, giving you an insight into their selection process. The top winner in each category received their choice of either a Sargent Palette or complimentary tuition to The Art of the Portrait being held April 21 to 24, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. Visit our website to see all the winning work and find out how you can become a member at www.portraitsociety.org.

1st Place Commissioned Portrait: Grace Devito, August, oil on canvas, 40 x 30" (101 x 76 cm)

COMMISSIONED PORTRAIT