Choices
Typically, my portraits focus on the face against a simple background.
Style of the work can range from finely detailed to impressionistic, brisk strokes or a polished finish, and from classically restrained tones to a more vivid palette.
I use a variety of materials for portraiture. Drawings are done in graphite, charcoal, or Conté and other pastel pencils on acid-free archival papers. I may prepare paper with a watercolor wash, gesso or other priming to enhance the surface for use with the selected portrait medium. (Examples follow.)
I often work in oil paint on canvas or linen, or on prepared panel. The woman at top was done in charcoal and Conté, the skeptical pooch in pastels, the other two examples on this page were painted in oils.
All images on this website are copyrighted by Sandra J Cohen. These images copyrighted 2015, 2013, 2019, 2020.