Nihi Sumba Painting

I have spent a lifetime involved in the creative process of countless compositions for the frame as an actor/writer in theater, film and television. Having also drawn and painted my entire life, my thought process is most often visual. It has been a natural progression for me to evolve into a painter of pictures. Academically, I've studied the Old Masters since I was a young man. Twelve years ago I took up the study of painting in oil with diligence and I am now painting full time. Portraiture interests me particularly in that all the elements I find compelling converge in terms of character study, pictorial composition and academic tradition. The artists I aspire to most, stood at the pinnacle of the genre in their time. I call them "The Big Guns". I have done master copies of the self portraits of Titan, Caravaggio, Rubens, Van Dyke, Velazquez, Vermeer, Gainsborough, Sir Thomas Lawrence and John Singer Sargent. "The Big Guns" are mounted on my studio ceiling staring down at me as stern but benevolent guardian angels. Certain standards must be upheld.