Production

PHOTOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

STEP 1

Whether it is a commissioned work or a personal project, the photographic phase represents an essential step in Chiara Del Vecchio’s creative process. For the artist, observing reality is an indispensable starting point: she captures glimpses, faces, and fragments of everyday life, freezing in time moments that might otherwise seem fleeting. Once collected, these images are selected, combined, and reinterpreted —ultimately transfigured on canvas into emotions, impressions, and suspended atmospheres.

PAINTING PROCESS STEPS

STEP 2

A successful portrait does not merely reproduce physical likeness—it also manages to convey a deeper truth: the emotional and spiritual essence of the subject. It is a type of work rich in meaning, and —particularly in the case of commissions — never a casual choice for those who request it.

The process begins with a preparatory study based on photographic references, sometimes provided by the client, sometimes taken directly by the artist, who uses them to capture expressions, features, and distinctive traits. From this material, a graphite drawing is created — precise yet subtle — establishing the underlying structure of the face.

What follows is a patient, layered process: Chiara Del Vecchio applies successive veils of acrylic paint, using the airbrush as her primary tool. This technique allows the pigment to be diffused into fine mist, producing the signature “out-of-focus” effect that defines her visual language. The blank canvas gradually transforms into an ethereal image, suspended between presence and disappearance.