Unveiling spotlights a recently completed portrait commission or figurative work from some of the best and most active members of the Portrait Society of America. This month Krystle Stricklin, guest writer for the Portrait Society, interviewed Liz Lindstrom about her recently completed portrait commission of Mac.

Unveiling

Liz Lindstrom: A Vibrant Palette

By Krystle Stricklin

Mac, oil, 27 x 20”

San Antonio-based artist Liz Lindstrom recently completed a colorful portrait commission, titled Mac, in which she captures the striking precocity of her young sitter. “There’s so much that I love about this painting,” Lindstrom remarks. “In fact, it has been such a color comfort in my studio that it was almost bittersweet to see it head to its home.” The work depicts a young boy dressed in a smart white outfit and sitting in a rainbow-colored chair, while looking directly out to the viewer. With wonderful detail, Lindstrom uses the vibrant reds, oranges, blues and greens of the chair’s pattern to highlight the boy’s face, hair and limbs.

Describing her vision for the work, Lindstrom says, “My client in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is all about color. When I was commissioned to paint her son, she was thrilled to let me loose with my vibrant palette. Her son already had a handsome outfit, and I was excited to find this marvelous chair in her living room. After choosing an expression and pose that we both loved, it was time to create the color studies.” About this process, she explains further, “With my small 5-by-7 studies, my client and I decided on a French blue background and which colors would be featured on the chair. Finding color that would seamlessly flow with the palette of my client’s home while simultaneously letting her son be the focus of the painting was decided during the color study stage. I worked to place color in and around the subject’s face such that the eyes of the viewer react to the expression first, and then subsequently enjoys the harmonization of color from there.”

Inspiration for her portraits often develops from time spent getting to know her sitters and their families. “I’m so grateful for my work and the people who commission me to capture their family’s stories,” she says. Like most portraitists, Lindstrom often travels across the country to meet with clients for in-person sittings. While the global pandemic has kept many artists from being able to do this, Lindstrom, along with fellow artist Teresa Mattos, came up with an ingenious way to travel and meet with clients safely. In September, the two artists took to the road in an RV, traveling across the South, through Kentucky and Tennessee, to conduct socially distanced meetings and photo shoots in clients’ driveways and other outdoor spaces. Lindstrom documented the trip on Instagram, allowing her clients and followers to join in the adventure from the safety of their homes.

Currently, Lindstrom continues to work from her home studio, and is available for commissions through Portraits Inc., with whom she has worked since 2005, and was named their first Exclusive Artist in 2015. More of her work is available to view on her website: www.artistlizlindstrom.com. —