I’ve been obsessing somewhat with facial features on the grounds that I absolutely can’t graduate this course without being able to render a decent eye or ear, or particularly a nose which never seems to fit the face properly when … Continue reading Noses begone!
This was based on an unattributed photo I found on the internet when searching for faces to paint for Practice of Painting last year. I liked the strength in this woman’s face, but I had to construct a story of … Continue reading Revisiting an earlier portrait
Could I have chosen a more difficult image? Probably not; wrinkled, crumpled faces give room for manoeuvre but flawless beauty is unforgiving. But I don’t much like being beaten, and anyway, what am I here for? I’m here to learn … Continue reading Revisiting THAT portrait: nose, eyes, mouth and teeth
Call me weird but I’m determined not to graduate this course without making a decent painting that includes a nose. So today, having almost finished up with Studio Practice, I took the plunge and, to really give myself a get-out clause, I chose a photo of an exquisite black woman after coming up blank looking for Nish Kumar, and decided to use oils for the first time ever. Someone gave me some when I began this course, smelly solvent and all, so armed with a couple of YouTube videos, and an acute awareness of the prolonged drying time of this … Continue reading Extra curricular noses
Contemporary and historic artists working in different ways on the head. See in particular Graham Little and Elizabeth Peyton. Extraordinarily, Little has no Wikipedia entry and doesn’t appear in any of the books I have to hand. An internet search brings up gallery reports, blogs, and news items, with The Guardian in 2010 introducing his Artist of the Week slot thus: The women in Graham Little’s virtuoso drawings inhabit a world of sumptuous beauty. Realised in a muted Merchant Ivory palette, these long-limbed belles recline gracefully in designer interiors. This is an 80s world of midnight-blue suits and earth-coloured bed sheets, of … Continue reading Part 4, project 6 – research point #1
Strayfish Arts 