Artists & Illustrators - UK (2020-05)

Fresh Paint

Frances Bell
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters (The RP) has been
collecting together the year’s best portraiture since 1891.
It started life as a reaction to the selection policies of the
Royal Academy of Arts, yet soon developed into a more
positive statement, gaining royal status 20 years later
and counting the likes of John Singer Sargent and James
McNeill Whistler among the earliest members.
One of the highlights of The RP’s forthcoming annual
exhibition will surely be Frances Bell’s Katie, which has
something of Sargent’s graceful brushwork to it. There’s
a wonderful warmth to the skin tones in particular that
the artist attributes to the flow of light. “If you can follow
the flow of light down the head, so that the form is well
expressed, that is half the battle. As one is painting the
tones and lights and darks of the skin, we need to consider
areas of local colour too, like the pink in a cheek and the
pale cool tones on the neck.”
The painting’s namesake is a close friend of Frances’s
who agreed to sit for the portrait whilst wearing a kimono

that belonged to the artist’s grandmother. It proved a nice

challenge to incorporate the kimono’s bright colour and

pattern without overpowering the portrait. “The important

thing to always keep in mind when painting beautiful things

that deserve attention in their own right is that they must,

above all else, fit into the painting,” Frances advises.

“We can’t afford to be piecemeal in the rendering of, even

lovely, items that sit in a larger composition. One must pair

down the painting of extra things so that they communicate

but don’t override the rest of the composition.”

Frances has been a member of The RP for two years, but

the society was also hugely beneficial to her practice prior

to her election. “Being in the annual exhibition promotes

you to the top-flight of artists, commissioning public and

institutions,” she says. “I’m a very vocal advocate of entering

the show, even if most of the time one doesn’t get in. It’s a

show that can push you forward in a very helpful way.”

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition

2020 runs from 7-22 May at Mall Galleries, London SW1.

http://www.francesbellpaintings.co.uk

ABOVE Frances

Bell, Katie, oil on

canvas,70x80cm

frances’s

toptiP

“Avoid using small brushes

for the background.

Painting with larger

brushes encourages

broader strokes”

Artists & Illustrators 19