Aaron Nagel

I thought I’d include a little bit on the prep for a painting, as it can often take as long as the painting itself. scheduling models is really hard for the most part. I have some friends that I can always depend on for good shoots, which I’m so grateful for. finding new faces is a huge pain most of the time, but every once in a while I’ll find a willing model and things just work out…in which case I usually try and paint them multiple times. lately I’ve been renting strobes so I have some options with shadows and highlights. It makes the final painting look much more dynamic and really helps with the realism. I usually shoot in my living room, which is so small that I have to put lights in a hallway and actually stand in the kitchen in order to get a good shot. I pin an old black sheet to the wall for a backdrop.

I usually take upwards of 400+ pictures, so sorting through them all can take forever. here’s 4 top picks for painting #11 for the show in March.