My experience of commissioning a portrait

I have been an Art lover and collector for some considerable time. Portraits have been a major interest and are well represented in my collection. Over the years I’ve had sketches and portraits of myself done by various artists, none of them a serious effort. However, prompted by the excellent BBC TV series `Star Portraits with Rolf Harris’, I finally decided it was time to have a `proper’ portrait done.

I was delighted to discover, through a modest advertisement in the local newspaper, that we have a master portrait artist, Dr Natalia Balo, living in Newcastle at Kahibah. A visit to her studio to meet her, to view her versatile range of works (including not just portraits, but landscapes, animals and birds), and to discuss what was involved in having a portrait done, quickly convinced me that she was the artist I was looking for.

The portrait would take about 6 months to complete, but it was for me a most enjoyable, enlightening and memorable experience.

Natalia is a truly gifted artist who has been impeccably nurtured and trained in the highest classical traditions of the Russian Masters. Her remarkable achievements, including her PhD from the University of Newcastle, are well documented in her impressive CV, and make interesting reading. In spite of her knowledge and experience, she was always willing to discuss and to listen, and was open and amenable to some of my ideas and suggestions.

We agreed that the portrait would be done in the traditional style, but without any attempt to achieve ‘photorealism’. Apart from the physical likeness, it would attempt to depict something of my personality and interests. It should be authentic, showing me engaged in some typical ordinary activity. It didn’t take long to determine the basic composition of the picture.

It would show me dressed and ready for Church on a Sunday morning, sitting in my favorite chair in a corner of my office, surrounded by my CDs, paintings and books, and reading with my ubiquitous highlighter pen in my right hand, during the hour or so that I have before I leave the house. I am looking momentarily interrupted, and look up to acknowledge a welcome visitor. This was the simple theme we decided on.

The execution of the painting, however, was not that simple. It involved numerous sittings both in my home and at Natalia’s studio, ongoing exchanges of ideas, completing a number of beautiful sketches with different variants of the composition of the portrait. Numerous changes and refinements to the images have occurred, mainly because of Natalia’s exacting and perfectionist artistic standards, and meticulous attention to detail. For instance, halfway through the painting stages I had an idea of introducing images of two books on the shelf to carry legible titles which would unobtrusively hint at my professional and literary interests – which Natalia painted in exactly as I asked her. The paintings on the walls (reproductions of actual paintings in my collection) were rearranged for better balance and composition, the intervening space between the paintings was highlighted for better aesthetic impact, and my hands were repeatedly redrawn for greater anatomical accuracy!

The sittings occurred in a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere, with soft background music and casual conversation, or with me at liberty to read a book (on one occasion even her beautifully illustrated PhD thesis), and I was never required to keep perfectly still. The sessions were in fact very enjoyable, and I certainly never felt any stress or discomfort. At my request, Natalia took photographs of the painting as it took shape, and I even made a video recording of its final stages. We thus have a permanent visual record of my `portrait experience’, which has greatly enhanced my enjoyment and appreciation of the final result.

Needless to say, I am absolutely delighted with my portrait. It takes pride of place in my collection amidst works by Judy Cassab, William Dargie, Nora Heysen, Joshua Smith, Yve Close and others. Family members and friends who have seen it are without exception full of praise and admiration. The only negative comment I have heard is that I look younger in the portrait than I really am. I don’t agree, and in any case I don’t mind!

I am glad Natalia is equally pleased with the result, considering it to be one of her finest works.

I am most grateful to Natalia for the portrait `masterpiece’ she has done on me, and I will always treasure it as a very special personal and family possession.

Dr Ang Ang
Consultant Radiologist (Retired)