I have started painting figures again after a time too long to mention. To begin with I started doing self-portraits. This was also influenced by chance meetings with people I have not seen since high school and noticing how different they looked. So, I call this theme Reunion - since I am looking at myself again now that I am over fifty and I am painting figures again.
I started with simple pencil drawings trying to look at myself objectively and make drawing that were both accurate but also reflected some ideas about how I thought I looked – older but not too old! Once I felt more confident I began to do some water color paintings. On a few of them I used some white acrylics paint in order to make the medium more forgiving – I was able to correct mistakes. As I grew more confident with the water colors I used less acrylic paint and began to draw directly with the water color starting with a very light color like yellow. I left the working lines in purposefully because I thought they added to the meaning of the images. I have also done some ink drawings of myself and some watercolors from a model.
I have tried to take the way I use lines and primary and complimentary colors in the same way I used them in the paintings of the rivers. In this way showing that the edges are important. In the drawing and painting process I have tried to keep the lines in ‘motion’ and soft. I keep my hand moving and try to let them weave a sense of detail into the image. I have done this in all the media – at the same time trying to get an accurate sense of detail in some key places – like the eyes – in order to bring focus and personal dimension to the images.
In painting figures that edges are soft. We don’t - as people just stop and start – we interact with our environment and people around us. I am still struggling with the sense of what a model, or figure other than myself might be doing in and image – what is the narrative? It was the lack of narrative that stopped me some years ago. Now, however, I think the idea of how people relate to their environment in the way the edges and lines are soft might be enough of a message for me to work with. In terms of the self-portraits I find that as I’ve aged my edges have gotten softer… and maybe that is not such a bad thing.
I started with simple pencil drawings trying to look at myself objectively and make drawing that were both accurate but also reflected some ideas about how I thought I looked – older but not too old! Once I felt more confident I began to do some water color paintings. On a few of them I used some white acrylics paint in order to make the medium more forgiving – I was able to correct mistakes. As I grew more confident with the water colors I used less acrylic paint and began to draw directly with the water color starting with a very light color like yellow. I left the working lines in purposefully because I thought they added to the meaning of the images. I have also done some ink drawings of myself and some watercolors from a model.
I have tried to take the way I use lines and primary and complimentary colors in the same way I used them in the paintings of the rivers. In this way showing that the edges are important. In the drawing and painting process I have tried to keep the lines in ‘motion’ and soft. I keep my hand moving and try to let them weave a sense of detail into the image. I have done this in all the media – at the same time trying to get an accurate sense of detail in some key places – like the eyes – in order to bring focus and personal dimension to the images.
In painting figures that edges are soft. We don’t - as people just stop and start – we interact with our environment and people around us. I am still struggling with the sense of what a model, or figure other than myself might be doing in and image – what is the narrative? It was the lack of narrative that stopped me some years ago. Now, however, I think the idea of how people relate to their environment in the way the edges and lines are soft might be enough of a message for me to work with. In terms of the self-portraits I find that as I’ve aged my edges have gotten softer… and maybe that is not such a bad thing.
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