Every
artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his
pictures.
-Henry Ward Beecher
Not
often do I paint from life or pictures or photos. I see something in my head and then paint
that. But, I have been working on not
having helmet hair so I am following likenesses to each day’s challenge. It has been a great exercise and even though
I am following her idea, I seem to have the portraits show my own voice. I work, as well, on the different poses of a
face (the bridge of the nose has been the hardest in full half face). But, each one I do, whether scripted or not,
tells a story to me. I work on showing
emotion and hope that a viewer will sense a story. Portraiture has to tell a story and I
continually work on this.
Trying
to force a portrait does not work for me at all. I have to work within the parameters but
still make each painting my own expression.
I do a great deal of intuitive work so, within the lines a challenge, is
the opportunity to connect with that portrait shape and make I my own. It seems, I must know a story, in my head,
about the portrait I am doing.
Even the
background becomes important. I have
found, if I do not work in an appropriate background, the painting looks static
and too clean. Backgrounds can add more
drama, more story, to a painting. The
emotion, or the emotionless portrait, will have eyes that are striking. So much emotion is shown through eyes. The more emotion you are trying to show, the
more work one does on the eyes. And, I
must add, the little white dot or stroke of white in the eyes makes a world of
difference. It was
important for me to do years of practice and experimentation to learn the rules
of portraiture and placement of eyes, nose mouth. If you are off, even a little bit, the
portrait will always feel, and, perhaps, look, wonky. I began with making my own template for a few
portraits before I ‘got it”. This is
imperative as the yes can make or break the portrait.
Once you
know the rules, the math, of portraiture, you can break rules. It is then that you see long necks, elongated
faces, eyes placed in wrong places. Deb
Weirs characters are amazing and way off following the rules. Even placement of the face on the substrate
can change a portrait.
Capturing
emotion is key, even when the subject is bland.
But, in this painting I did, notice the pout of the lip. Did you notice before I pointed it out? Did your own psyche begin to tell the
story? Suddenly, there is a story, an
emotion our psyche recognizes and it changes the portrait into a story. Everyone will interpret it according to their
own emotional response. Your portrait
does not even need to be most perfect, your best, because, emotional response
to a painting is key. I titled this one “I’m A Good Girl, I Am!”
How do
you portray emotion in your portraits?
©Carol Desjarlais 7.13.20
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