“The goal is to catch the resemblance, spark of life and uniqueness of a face and presence”. Portrait paintings and drawings immortalize a moment, a state, the inner world of a person, their beauty, their individuality… In this tech era, though, of the digital plethora of images and selfies, it is important to raise the question of why to practice such an archaic activity. I can reply in five words: pleasure, precision, challenge, connection, and magic.

 . Precision: from my experience working with beauty and fashion photographers for high-end magazines, I keep the joy of doing things right, taking my time to position the model and the light in the optimal way.

. Challenge: Each project is a discovery, for both the model and myself, looking at each other for hours, while I feel a rush of adrenalin, necessary to render on canvas the spark of life I seek. The result is the authentic creation of a psychological portrait.

. Connection and magic: In this shared light hypnosis, with intense yet calm focus, it is as if the eyes slowly adjust to see the true colors of the skin, to transcribe onto the canvas. This magic cannot happen while working from photographs.

. Pleasure: from preparing the canvas to making the grisaille (under painting), and the side color study, to struggle with chaos until the image appears, to the enhancement of the dry colors with varnish, the full process is pure pleasure.

I want my portraits to translate my perception, so my focus is on the eyes, the center of the face, and on the hands, while the rest, details of the clothing or the background can remain as a blur. My main interest in portraiture is to capture the resemblance, the essence, and the presence of a person. My models unanimously said I make them “more beautiful on canvas”.

The “CAROLINE BERGONZI CREATIVE LABORATORY” represents the vast array of Caroline Bergonzi’s activities, all related to exploring ART and CREATIVITY, through various materials and techniques. This site www.privatestudiomonaco.com presents her portraits. The site www.atelierbergonzi.com is mainly dedicated to her paintings’ explorations. Her sculpture activities are described on www.carolinebergonzi.com and her jewelry design on www.missbergonzi.com. And her consulting services on www.bergonziprojects.com.

All copyrights on the arts, photos, websites, and texts belong to their author, Caroline Bergonzi, and CREALAB LLC.