Jackie Hornby Portrait Artist - and much more!
I accept portrait commissions from photos, of humans and animals.
Based in North Devon, UK, I'm a versatile artist and enjoy painting just about anything. My particular love for as long as I can remember has been portraiture. I work from photographs in oils, or sometimes soft pastels, usually focusing on the head and shoulders, but sometimes including more. I am aphantasic (I have no "mind's eye") so I paint what I see with my eyes, as I cannot see anything in my head. Except when it comes to those ad lib moments....
I don't try to make a photographic likeness. I aim to capture what makes the subject tick. Here's Hilda Ogden, an original Coronation Street character. I think I caught her nicely.
Capturing the Essence
Other Kinds of Portrait
Here's a recent commission to paint two Rottweilers and capture their different characters.
Next, a few years ago I was asked to paint a portrait of TS Royalist, the Sea Cadets' training ship. They have the painting on board.
The day I painted this self-portrait was extremely hot and my nose got badly sunburned....
Scenes in Nature
The natural world is a constant source of inspiration. I try not to get fixated on detail, instead giving an impression of what I can see, in a fairly realistic way. I tend to brighten up the colours of what I can actually see, because, as with portraits, I'm trying to catch an essence, not to make a photographic copy.
I love doing still life - on a cold winter's day, in a warm studio, with the subject there in front of me. Before starting, I familiarise myself thoroughly with the thing in question, both by looking at it carefully for a long time, from lots of different angles, and by exploring it with my hands. I am quite content to paint just the one item; others prefer a better composition.
Still Life
Those ad lib moments
I may not be able to invent a picture in my head and then paint it, but I enjoy just starting something off with no idea where I'm going, and just seeing what happens. Here are some examples, the first two in oil pastels, second two in oil paint.
If you like my work, that's wonderful.
Send me a message here and I'll respond as soon as possible.