A perfect photo finish

Bulgarian artist copies and paints life-like pictures from photographs

A baby with a toothless grin held in the arms of his protective older sister, a happy family enjoying a picnic in the desert, a magnificent horse galloping into the wind and a well groomed cat cuddled up in its basket.

These and other oil and pastel paintings displayed by Rumen Belivanov at the Town Centre, Jumeirah, speak volumes about his talent. The Bulgarian artist, who specialises in painting portraits from photographs, sets up his studio at the Town Centre from 2.30pm to 10.30pm everyday.

With the noise in the mall drowned out by the jazz music on his headphones and his entire attention focused on his painting, Rumen is oblivious to the fascinated crowd that gathers to watch him work. As his fingers move deftly across the canvas, the picture that slowly emerges is accurate in every minute detail and even more life like than the photographs he copies.

"In Bulgaria, particularly in summer, people enjoy sitting outdoors and posing for the portraits, but my customers in Dubai prefer to have them done from photographs. This gives me more time to work on the picture. Like every artist, I never feel that a picture is complete and keep adding details till the customer comes to pick it up," he says.

Rumen studied art at the International Art Academy in Sophia, Bulgaria and specialised in oil painting. He often paints landscapes, but he particularly enjoys painting horses and portraits. "I love to paint old, wrinkled faces because each wrinkle has a story to tell," he remarks.

However the portraits of little boys with a mischievous twinkle in their eyes, little girls with tousled hair and smiling babies in their cribs that he has been commissioned to do, are an indicator of his special skill and popularity as a children's portrait painter.

Rumen often combines individual pictures into a single, family portrait and sometimes adds background details to enhance the painting.

"My portraits are accurate but I am not a computer. Every picture I paint reflects the way I look at things. Sometimes people ask me to touch up some features but personally I like to be true to reality," states Rumen, adding proudly that 60 per cent of his clientele is of repeat customers, satisfied with his earlier work.

The artist first came to Dubai in 2001 to participate in the Dubai Shopping Festival. He loved the city and has since made four more visits.

"I enjoy going to the souk area and love to paint the old structures and abras along the creek side. I keep coming back to Dubai because the people here appreciate good art and the management of Town Centre has been very supportive," says Rumen, who will be in Dubai till April 30.

He likes to spend the winter in Dubai and go back to Bulgaria for the summer tourist season. "Many people have requested me to teach them portrait painting, but I do not have the studio space for it. When I come back next winter I will try to hold a few workshops."