Portrait Artist Fi Holt. Fine Art Painter of Stunning Oil Commissions

Welcome to The Portrait Place

The site has two areas. This area is for those who are considering commissioning a portrait painting. You should find everything you need to know by navigating the menu bar to the left.

For artists and fine art enthusiasts there is a separate area, accessed below, which is packed with useful information on how to go about painting a portrait in oils.

Pastel portrait by fine artist Fiona Holt

For Patrons

I am a professional portrait artist based in Hampshire in the UK. I have extensive experience of painting portraits from models but the majority of my work is now done from photographs. This means that I can undertake a commission for you regardless of where you live.

A commissioned portrait is a great way to mark an occasion, such as an engagement, marriage, promotion or graduation, or simply to celebrate a life. I am happy to paint most portraits : children, brides and executives for example. As I work from photographs I can also paint posthumous portraits.

If you have a photograph in mind then send it to me and I’ll freely advise you as to whether it’s suitable (most are). If you don’t already have a photograph, then I have provided some guidance for you to take one yourself - Photograph

For Artists Artist's Area

For those looking for technical portrait painting advice I am building up a large volume of structured guidance literature. So far there are pages entitled : Hue & the Colour Wheel, Tone Transparency & Saturation, Darks to Whites, Contrast is King, Painting Skin Tone, Finding a Subject, Composition & Rhythm, Portrait Size, Working Conditions for Painting, Brushes Surfaces & Brush Strokes, Negative Shaping and Painting a Likeness.

The guidance is all illustrated by plenty of fantastic portraits (usually by the great masters) to make it a thought provoking and inspiring place to read about art.