Portrait artist: None of us really know what we actually look like
"A portrait is kind of a document of the relationship between the artist and the sitter, and when that chemistry works, you sense it in the painting."
By Sky News
Portrait artist Jonathan Yeo says people do not always know what they really look like, and that a close friend’s reaction can reveal whether a painting has captured them.
Yeo made the comments in an interview with Sky News as he joined the judging panel for Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year.
“A portrait is kind of a document of the relationship between the artist and the sitter,” he said. “When that chemistry works, you sense it in the painting.”
The artist said the subject of a portrait may not be the best person to judge their likeness immediately because people are not necessarily familiar with how they appear to others.
He added that the response of someone who knows the sitter well can be more revealing. They can tell “in a split second” whether the portrait has got it right, he said.
Yeo has painted Hollywood stars, politicians and members of the Royal Family. He works on commission and typically produces four or five portraits a year.
Despite the cost of living crisis, he said portrait painting remained a buoyant medium.
Yeo also said he did not expect artificial intelligence to replicate the human qualities involved in art in the foreseeable future. He pointed to understanding, emotional response and cultural reference points as qualities that made art special.
The new series of Portrait Artist of the Year was due to begin at 8pm on Sky Arts and NOW, with Yeo joining the judging panel.