For this assignment I wanted to create an expressive portrait that can tell a story and also provide me with the opportunity to practice painting more than just faces and shoulders, for example also arms, hands and upper body. Thinking of expressive portraits, several artists whose works I have seen on my gallery visits, or in books and newspaper articles came to mind -
1. Marina Abramovich, performance artist, whose self-portrait alabasters made in collaboration with Factum Art I saw last year at the Masterpiece show
In this three dimensional work she explored her facial expression and hands gestures which I found very engaging and powerful.
2 Francis Bacon
This study of a business man with his mouth open as if shouting is a very expressive and very striking and powerful work. Bacon seems to have a fascination with the mouth and teeth as so many of his paintings appear to have this feature as the base for his striking and often disturbing works.
Reference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19G8z0c73f4
https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/francis-bacon-old-masters-sainsbury-center-289750
3. Edvard Much
This is another incredibly expressive iconic work of art which symbolises the anxiety Munch felt in the modern world. The open mouth and gestural hands make the base of this powerful work.
References
https://www.edvardmunch.org/the-scream.jsp
4. My tutor directed me to the portraits of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye which I really like, specially because of their simplicity, the sensitivity of expressions, and the relaxed face and body gestures. Very hard to believe they are of fictional people.
Reference:http://www.jackshainman.com/artists/lynette-yiadom-boakye/
Inspired by the works of the artists above, I decided to do a self-portrait in which I could combine the expressiveness and simplicity which are the aspects which specifically attracted me to their works.
As my process I decided to use photography sketching, and made a series of selfies, changing settings, clothing, body gestures, facial expressions etc (See my Photography Sketching page), and from these chose the one I liked most as a reference. This was one of a series where I dressed in black as a contrast to the light creamy-coloured sofa in my living room.
For my support I used an A1 recycled cardboard sheet which I pre-primed with a transparent primer with the intention of experimenting and possibly using the brownish background colour of the cardboard as part of the painting.
For my medium I decided on a WMO limited colour palette of Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Payne’s Grey, Burnt Umber, Indian Red and Titanium White, and a mixture of linseed oil and fast drying medium.
I started with a drawing of my face, body and arms in willow charcoal, which took a long time as I was very careful to adjust the drawing until I was completely happy with the proportions before starting to paint.
I started by blocking and building up the colours and then painted the background, leaving out details on the background to get the effect of simplicity I wanted.
I worked through to the final adjustments and detail, taking special care with the arms and hands, the parts of the body I wanted to practice.
This is an unusual composition for me, as I wanted the facial expression and hands to tell a story. When I took the photo I was looking at the pot next to me which didn't have a plant in it at the time, which gave me the idea for my story - my shock at the realisation that the future of planet and our plants is threatened by climate change.
My conclusions are that I liked the texture of WMO on cardboard, though my original intention of using the colour of the cardboard didn’t work as the colour didn't show through the paint. I particularly did like the matt effect of WMO and mediums on the cardboard however – very different to what the result would have been on primed canvas, and WMO on canvas or canvas board also feels a bit sticky even when dry – not the case on cardboard.
I think the creases on the recycled cardboard added quite an interesting feature to the painting and gave a subtle framing to the body, and I really enjoyed the process of doing this assignment. I’m happy with the final result, the proportions are accurate – the depiction of the clothing, the arms and hands. For some reason the painting has the feel of an illustration, perhaps because of the face, which might need a little more work around the nose and eyes to make them more realistic.
From the research I learned how expressive faces can tell a story in a painting, and I experimented and learned a lot about the use of WMO and its mediums though I know I need more practice. I also got practice with hands and arms, which I had been afraid of, and found that by concentrating harder I could get a good result - I think I did a good job.
My experiment with carboard as a support was valuable, and I found advantages in using it such as the matt effect. It’s also lighter than a canvas so it’s easy to transport, though it can be a bit tricky to handle because it curves and breaks very easily.
Overall, I think my main challenge is how to unify my compositions by the use of colour, which I still need to work on a lot.