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The Daily Tar Heel

Bowles commissions classmate for portrait

Painting to take two 15-hour sessions

Artist Ben Long will complete Erskine Bowles’ customary exit portrait in the coming months.
Artist Ben Long will complete Erskine Bowles’ customary exit portrait in the coming months.

It is a common practice for UNC-system presidents to have their portraits made upon their departure.

But it is less common for that portrait to be painted by a former classmate.

Erskine Bowles knew artist Ben Long, who has been commissioned to paint his portrait, back in their days at UNC more than 40 years ago.

“We’ve been friends a long time,” Long said.

Long left UNC with one semester of general education requirements left.

“I knew I’d never do calculus, and so far I haven’t,” he said.

After taking every class he could in creative writing, Long set out for New York to study art and has been painting ever since.

The process of creating a portrait is long and involved, since Long refuses to take any shortcuts in his work. He will not paint anything from a photograph.

“Basically it’s copying a two-dimensional object onto a two-dimensional plain,” he said.

“Doing it from life, you can create the illusion of a three dimensions.”

Long said he tries to capture everything about the subject, including the atmosphere surrounding them in an effort to portray personality rather than simply a likeness.

But painting from life can present unique challenges.

“Whether you like it or not, you’re going to reflect what’s on your mind and how you’re thinking, what’s bothering you or what’s making you happy — some of that is going to show through,” Long said.

So he usually budgets 15 two-hour sittings for each of his portraits, which allows him some extra time to start over if necessary.

The additional sittings allow him to be sure he captures the person’s character rather than simply how they’re feeling on a particular day.

At the same time, Long said he is aware about the dangers of taking too long.

“You lose a little of the momentum, and it takes a little more to get back into it,” he said.

Long spent 30 years in Europe, studying art and commissioning works while living in Italy and southern France.

Ten years ago, he returned to Asheville to start the Fine Arts League of the Carolinas, a school for all ages that teaches the fundamentals of art.

The school, which has 25 students and seven faculty members, is supported by donors and the school’s art gallery. It has recently moved to the Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville.

While working on Bowles’ portrait for the next several months, Long will also be available for more commissions.

His work, as well as the work of his apprentice John Dempsey, is on display for the next month in Toots and Magoo’s newly opened gallery space, right next to the store on Franklin Street.

While Long will often converse with the person he paints, he said sometimes the most genuine moments are when nothing is said at all.

“You get them quiet for a moment of time, and they drift away. You might catch them at a moment when they’re themselves. I don’t think you can do that with a photograph,” he said.

Bowles’ portrait will likely join the portraits of previous UNC-system presidents hanging in the Spangler Center, which houses offices for the UNC-system General Administration.

Contact the Arts Editor at arts.dth@gmail.com.

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