Ben Lustenhouwer 1951
was born and grew up in Soest, The Netherlands, 1951.
In 1990, I moved to Spain with my wife, the sculptress Helma Vanrens, and our daughter Karen. We first settled in Paterna and later in village called Chelva.
For over 25 years, my working life has been filled almost daily, with portrait commissions. In recent years an idea grew that I should share my portrait painting experiences and knowledge. Ultimately this is what I did. About ten years ago I started teaching and later, making video tutorials.
Since then much has changed. In the past I found myself only behind the easel. Now part of the day I also spend behind a computer. I am in touch with people from all over the world who want to learn portrait painting. Every few days I write my blog posts and in addition, sometimes for weeks on end I am filming and editing videos. When I started this portrait-painting-internet project I had no idea that it would become such a success. Nor had I expected that I would enjoy it so much. It gives me great satisfaction to be able to help others improve their painting skills.
