Anders Olsson 2020

Nick Alm painted this portrait, Anders Olsson, and it feels like he really took his time to capture a likeness. I imagine Alm starting with thin washes of muted colors, building up the form gradually. The painting feels calm and still, and the brushstrokes feel soft and deliberate. Look at the way the light catches the side of the face and the subtle highlights in the hair. You can see the artist building the structure of the head with careful consideration. The texture of the paint is smooth, creating a soft and intimate atmosphere. Anders Olsson is wearing glasses, and they look like they might be about to fall off his nose! They give him a slightly goofy look. But what was Alm thinking? Maybe he wanted to convey a sense of intellectualism, or maybe he just liked the way the glasses reflected the light. I bet Alm looked at a lot of portraits by other painters while he was working on this one. It's like artists are always in conversation with each other, taking ideas and pushing them further.