Kirsti Paakkanen Painting

"Kirsti Paakkanen" is from my series of BOLD portraits. My fabulous friend Kirsti Paakkanen is the legendary former President and CEO of Marimekko. Kirsti bought Marimekko in 1991 and took on the challenge to revive the company after a rough patch in its story. Together with Marimekko’s people, the visionary business woman brought Marimekko not only back to its feet but to a new glory. I paint portraits of people who have made an impact - on me on our society. I use oil paints , but on my BOLD Portraits I also use a rare ULTRABLACK acrylic paint. It is the blackest black in the world, it absorbs 99% of visible light. I started to paint portraits with oil paints when I challenged myself to paint the two things that are most difficult for me: 1) faces and 2) oil paints. I painted "Icons of Icons" by adding gold leaf to the background, reminiscing religious icons. That evolved into "Gold Portraits" by swapping the oil for the background and the gold for the actual portrait. I always enjoyed the paintings in their early phases, when the paintings seemed extremely light and relaxed. I am able to achieve that sketchy result now in my "Bold Portraits” - without having the painting appear unfinished. I dropped out everything extra - the gold and most colors. I paint the painting meticulously through 3-4 times with a very small brush in order to achieve the undulating sketchy lines on my finished painting. I hope you like them! Synopsis: I paint iconic people and topics that have had an impact on me or our society. I paint oil on canvas, but in my BOLD portraits I also use a ultrablack matt acrylic paint. The painting is signed on the back and has my “e” symbol on the front. The painting continues around the sides, so it is ready to hang unframed.