Ritratto di Otakar Podhradsky

This portrait of Otakar Podhradsky, in which the subject appears standing in a pavilion with a castle in the distance was commissioned by Mr. Podhradsky's grandson, an avid art collector. Mr. Podhradsky, who was fondly remembered by his family, lived in the Czech Republic. When his grandson asked me to paint him, he presented me with a black and white photo of his grandfather taken around 1940 (?). From this photo, I used my imagination and photo references to create an image of his torso, along with all the background props. My patron requested that I include a castle as part of the background. Imagining a scenic, old world landscape was a lot of fun, but adding a believable torso to the head was a real challenge.