a distance to try to get the feeling
of that headdress without putting
in every little bangle and sparkle.”
He also knew that if he made each
sparkle the same shape, temperature
and value, it would weaken every-
thing. “That’s like putting highlights
all over a face,” he says. “The more
you put in, the less visually strong
they become. I agree with the adage
I once heard that every stroke you
put to paper either makes a painting
stronger or weaker.”
Latala also enjoys posing his
models outside, preferably painting
from life as he did for the striking
composition, Summer (page 25).
“The background was very bright and
I purposely posed my model under
a canopy, silhouetted against thelight, but catching some light on her
right side,” he explains. “It’s just so
beautiful to observe all those colors
and subtle temperature changes you
see when painting from life. I greatly
simplified the background to place
the emphasis on her. I believe the
role of a background is to play a sup-
porting role to the star—the model’s
face and expression.”
When working from photographs,
as in On the Kilkee Coast (below), a
portrait of Latala’s wife made after
their trip to Ireland, the artist makes
a practice of taking a five-minute
break every 25 minutes, during which
he tries not to look at his painting. “It
simulates a live modeling session and
keeps me and my work fresh,” he says.
“This way, I tend not to overwork mypainting with the overabundance of
details present in most photos.”A Bravura Style
The artist typically begins with a very
light, freehand sketch in a terracotta
Prismacolor or Conté pencil. “Like
an action sketch, I’m only trying to
get the big shapes—the extremes
all over,” he says. “I can usually see
how well it’s laid out within the first
10 minutes. If the balance, rhythm
or negative shapes aren’t right, I’ll
wipe it out and start over. When it
feels right, I’ll proceed. Generally,
I develop a pastel from thin and
dark to thick and light. I have a light
touch, so I don’t use many hard pas-
tels to start, but when I do, they’re26 Pastel Journal OCTOBER 2019