Q: Now tell me, how do you begin a portrait?

4. Posing the Sitter

"I find that people are often very shy and awkward when they come into a studio; they seem to look upon being painted as some thing of an ordeal which more or less alarms them. So, first of all, I like to have a little chat with my sitter, to make him feel at home. This gives me a chance to observe him quietly and to see what kind of pose and expression will suit him best and be most characteristic of his personality. As far as possible I try to get him to pose himself so that the suggested movement shall be easy and natural and free from self-consciousness."

Q: Yes, I can imagine that to be very important. What comes next?

"Then follows the consideration how to distribute the light and shade and last of all comes the decision on a suitable background in harmony with the intended color scheme of the picture. When these matters have been arranged to my satisfaction I do a rapid drawing of the subject in my sketchbook to make sure that the movement, light and shade and placing are as I wish them to be; in other words, to be certain that the decorative effect of the picture is complete. But in the case of a larger picture or a group I do a similar sketch, from nature, in color, to be able to judge the effect of the color scheme in which I want to keep the portrait."

Q: Do you transfer your drawing to the canvas?

"No, I do not use it again; it has served its purpose as a record of my intention, and it has helped me to decide how I should deal with my subject. But the picture is by now fully formed in my mind."

6. Starting on the Canvas

The first brush lines of the portrait.

Q: How, then, do you start on the canvas?

"My clean canvas is now on the easel before me, in its frame -- "

Q: In its frame?

"Yes, certainly. I believe that the frame is an integral part of the picture and must be there from the beginning. If it is added at the last moment after the picture is finished there is always the risk that it may not agree with the character of the work."

Q: Well, you have the canvas and the frame, what about the picture? What do you do to set that going?

"You seem to think that my practice is full of dark secrets. I assure you, my dear friend, that I have no tricks to reveal; I have no enlarged photographs up my sleeve and no other mechanical devices which I can produce for your benefit. I just put my canvas beside my sitter and begin to paint."