Portraits: British Royals

http://www.richardstoneuk.com/dukeofyork.html

A painting of Prince Andrew, Duke of York - sittings for the painting were at Buckingham Palace. Oh, isn't he such a handsome darling. I always love a man in uniform.

The late Queen Mother - posed for this painting at Clarence House.
http://www.richardstoneuk.com/queenmother.html

Prince Charles - sitting at Highgrove, Glouchestershire

http://www.richardstoneuk.com/princeofwales.html

Portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. She look so Regal and powerful.

http://www.richardstoneuk.com/queen.html

[selrahc4]

Portrait of HRH The Princess Royal by David Cobley
souce: http://www.davidcobley.co.uk/home.htm

[mandyy]

Artist Rolf Harris officially unveils his oil portrait of Queen Elizabeth II at The Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace on December 19, 2005 in London, England. Harris was permitted two sittings at Buckingham Palace, which was recorded for a BBC One documentary. More than 120 official portraits have been made of the Queen, by artists ranging from Dame Laura Knight to Lucien Freud.

Photos from Getty images

[ysbel]

I'm not a fan of this latest portrait. The Queen looks washed out and her smile looks weird.

I've done some portrait painting myself and we had a model who insisted on smiling for a whole three hour session. All our paintings looked really odd. I think Rolf tried to get the Queen to hold a smile for a long time and it doesn't look natural on anybody.

That's why you don't see a lot of formal portraits of smiling people.

[Princejohnny25]

Worst potrait of her majesty Ive ever seen. I dont really see the real elizabeth that he tried to portray. He certainly has a unique vision.

[james]

I think it is great. It almost looks like a photograph.

[ysbel]

It's not really a bad painting but being a painter myself I do nitpick a lot. It comes from nitpicking my own paintings. :)

Her hair is white, her skin is pale, and he painted a light background behind her. So there's no contrast of light and dark (chiaroscuro) to draw your attention to the most important part of a portrait - the head. Its a shame because from the neck down its a really nice painting and the green really works well with the rest of the colors in the painting but for portraits a painting that just looks good from the neck down doesn't work too well. :p

[Lady Marmalade]

I saw the painting on the BBC News on Channel 20 here in Chicago earlier this evening...while the painting is interesting, what I loved the best was hearing the Queen talk so informally and the relaxed look on her face. It was worth it to catch the BBC News to see that special moment of her behaving just so informal and relaxed.

[Danielle]

I personally think it looks good, but I do have a problem with the Queen's teeth (in the painting). One 'critic' said they stuck out, and I have to agree. I laughed so much when Rolf asked Her Majesty if she was okay with the turpentine (i.e she wasn't going to faint or anything). She said "well, we'll soon find out". I know it's off topic, but I think it's the first time I've really seen her humour. It was a real eye-opener. Anyway, it's this humour and generosity and warmth I can see in the painting. As she said herself, she looks friendly and I think Rolf has done a good job in capturing this.

[Margrethe II]

Originally Posted by Danielle

I personally think it looks good, but I do have a problem with the Queen's teeth (in the painting). One 'critic' said they stuck out, and I have to agree. I laughed so much when Rolf asked Her Majesty if she was okay with the turpentine (i.e she wasn't going to faint or anything). She said "well, we'll soon find out". I know it's off topic, but I think it's the first time I've really seen her humour. It was a real eye-opener. Anyway, it's this humour and generosity and warmth I can see in the painting. As she said herself, she looks friendly and I think Rolf has done a good job in capturing this.

I was lucky enough to have seen footage of a relaxed QEII quite a few years back so I have been aware of this terribly funny yet dry sense of humour that is very much HM the Queen for quite some time. Not to forget her renowned gift as a mimic.

The Queen was very much aware of the camera crews presence so I personally believe that if there was no company apart Rolf's, than she would have most likely been more relaxed and talkative.

I must say the first thing I thought when viewing the teeth was that they resembled those of an Ork (Lord of the Rings.lol.)

But, he should be most proud of this accomplishment!

[Australian]

I like the portrait, i think it really captures a relaxed and informal queen, which is not often shown in her other portraits, in the other portraits, she looks more regal and royal. The painting really looks like a picture of someones aunt or granny, like Rolf saif himself.
I also have a problem with the teeth as well, it was the first thing that i noticed and it doesnt look right, but overall, a good portrait.

[Princejohnny25]

I like the informalness and colors of the painting but there are some heavy features on the painting that the queen doesnt have. I know he wanted an impressionist painting so that might be why he painted her not as she looks but the way he felt she looked when he was painting the soverign. It is unique, I may not be my favourite but its good there are a variety of potraits of the queen.

[pollyemma]

Originally Posted by Princejonnhy25

I like the informalness and colors of the painting but there are some heavy features on the painting that the queen doesnt have. I know he wanted an impressionist painting so that might be why he painted her not as she looks but the way he felt she looked when he was painting the soverign. It is unique, I may not be my favourite but its good there are a variety of potraits of the queen.

i agree. it's a very good painting. i like the 'soft' style a lot. colors were great.she's wearing a lovely suit. though if i was the queen i wouldnt be too happy with the facial expression, it kinda looks like she just smelled something bad, but hey, i'm not the queen so she may think that's fine.

[selrahc4]

In the days before photography, especially color photography, artists were almost obligated to make a portrait as true to life as possible. That isn't true today when there are a gazillion (I counted) photos available for people to see what their royals look like. Thus, in a kind of contrarian way, artists are more likely and more free to depict them impressionistically (good grief, is that a word?).

[Alexandria]

I've been going through old files and cleaning up old magazines. I came across an old issue of Hello! with a feature called "Keepers of the Kingdom: A Fascinating Look at the Ancient Offices of the Royal Family on the Eve of the Golden Jubilee."

HM Queen Elizabeth: The Sovereign

[ysbel]

RadioTimes recently ran a poll asking readers to pick their favorite portrait of the Queen from her 80 year reigh.

The overwhelming favorite was a 1955 portrait of the Queen in her splendid Order of the Garter robes by master Italian painter, Pietro Annigoni. This is truly one of the most stunning portraits of the Queen I have seen. It expertly shows the majesty of the monarchy and the character of the young Queen. No wonder it is a favorite.

A good look at the portrait on Brigitte Gastel Lloyd's site

link to BBC article

[fanletizia]

A handout picture released April 18, 2006 by artist Jemma Phipps shows a new portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. The portrait was commissioned by the Ascot authority to celebrate the Queen's 80th birthday and the completion of the redeveloped racecourse at Ascot in southern England

from yahoo/reuters