2. PORTRAIT PAINTING: INITIAL SOURCES
FIONA SHAW BY VICTORIA RUSSELL
I chose this portrait by Victoria Russell as it stood out to me from
some of the others in the gallery. I loved how although it is very
realistic its still clear it’s a painting, and doesn’t have the
photorealistic quality that some of the others had.
In terms of composition, the subject sitting on the chair gives a
relaxed feel to the piece, which is emphasised by the sheets draped
around and over her. The colours used could also contribute to this
as Russell has only used neutral shades, with the skin being the most
‘colourful’ area. The simplicity of this feels calming but strong. The
piece has an air of confidence to it, mainly due to the clothing on the
subject as she's in her underwear, which isn’t something you'd just
go out in public wearing alone, yet in this painting that’s all she has
on. Although you can’t see much of the room in which she is sitting,
the artist has given a feeling of space by not placing any other objects
near her, giving the impression of an empty room.
The artist has almost dabbed the paint
onto the canvas when painting the skin
because you can see the areas where the
tone changes, it doesn’t blend seamlessly
into itself. Again this emphasises the fact it
is a painting, and not trying to look like a
photo.
3. PORTRAIT PAINTING: INITIAL SOURCES
TAD BY JOHN BOROWICZ
Tad by John Borowicz stood out to me as soon as I saw it, mainly due
to the paper bag on the boys head which obviously was different to
most of the other paintings.
There are no props or objects in the background and the child is
centred in the middle of the painting with his hat taking up almost as
much space as he does on the canvas. The lack of background makes
it almost impossible to work out the context of the piece which
actually makes it quite comical. I would also say it poses many
questions for the viewer because it seems so strange for example,
‘Why isn’t he wearing a top? Why is there a paper bag on his head?’
etc.
The paint seems to blend into itself well, so no evidence of mark
making is clearly visible, however the artist would have worked in
layers because he used oil paint. The attention to detail on the bag is
incredible as it really looks like it could be 3D and real. Borowicz used
highlights and shadows very precisely in
order to get the exact crinkle of the paper.
The boy himself is also really realistic which
is mainly down to the way the skin tones
were painted so every area has its different
undertone which helps create natural
looking shadows and skin.
4. PORTRAIT PAINTING: INITIAL SOURCES
FRANCES GQOBA BY LONDON STEREOSCOPIC
At the National Portrait Gallery there was a small section of
photographs of the African Choir from when they toured and had
their portraits taken by the London Stereoscopic Company. All the
photos were striking but I chose this one, of Frances Gqoba.
The main thing that drew me to this was the way that light had been
used to create a dramatic cast on one side of the portrait. It
highlighted her dark skin and natural beauty which is why I think this
photo is so beautiful, as well as celebrating her African culture.
The composition is typical for a portrait, with the subject sitting right
in the centre looking straight on. I do feel, however, that this works
well for this piece because the focus is all on Gqoba. Similarly, the
lack of background only emphasises her as the main focus.
5. PORTRAIT PAINTING: INITIAL SOURCES
WILLIAM HOGARTH BY LOUIS ROUBILIAC
This terracotta bust of Willliam Hogarth stood out to me because of
how realistic the piece is, and the amount of detail, especially in the
face. It would have been hand sculpted however no signs of mark
making are visible as the surface seems very smooth. There are
ridges on the clothing and hair which add texture and again a sense
of realism and movement.
The pose seems confident and gives the impression that the subject
was an important person, due to the clothes he’s wearing and the
turn of the head.
6. PORTRAIT PAINTING: INITIAL SOURCES
JAMES RHODES BY ALEXANDER CHAMBERLIN
In this portrait of James Rhodes by Alexander Chamberlin the figure
is placed centrally in the rectangle. The composition works wells for
his particular painting as there is very little background detail so all
focuses on the figure. Rhodes’ relaxed pose reflects Chamberlin's’
aim to paint people in their natural settings and the dressing gown
he’s wearing further achieves this. The messy, unfinished background
mimics the fact that the subject is in his comfort clothes and he is too
messy and unfinished as he's not ready for the day yet.
Furthermore, the large, rough brushstrokes that are soft but clearly
visible contribute to this rushed, messy feel of the portrait. It gives
the impression of the subject being laidback and carefree – like the
brushstrokes.
The painting feels real. Although the rushed style is not
photorealistic, it shows emotion. The messy brushstrokes show
texture and couple with the clothes it feels tired and worn out.
This, however, stands out to me as its not
the most ‘perfect’ and its more of a real
representation of a human as opposed to
the ‘regal’ style of many traditional and
photorealistic portraits.
7. PORTRAIT PAINTING: EXPERIMENTS & DECISIONS
I began experimenting with different compositions for my self
portrait, drawing direct from observation by looking at myself in the
mirror. This meant I was limited on what compositions I could draw
because I still had to be able to see myself enough to draw.
Because these were just to get an idea of which poses would work
best for my final self portrait, I only used a pencil and did simple line
drawings with not much detail. It was difficult to get these drawings
to look like me as I wasn’t using any tone and you can’t tell much
about it just from lines.
Most of the sources I looked at from the museum had the subject
facing straight on or slightly from the side so I decided to do the
same for mine. My favourite composition is the one that is angled
slightly from above as I think it has the most striking look to it and
can imagine it looking even better as a painting. However, it was
the most challenging to draw as I found it difficult to see myself in
the mirror and draw whilst keeping the pose due to the angle.
8. PORTRAIT PAINTING: EXPERIMENTS & DECISIONS
Once I had drawn out a few different ideas and compositions using
line drawings I built upon these to create painted self portraits. I used
acrylic paint because its easiest to mix colours with and mistakes can
be painted over quickly.
The artist I was inspired by, Alex Chamberlin, has a slightly messy
style of painting so I kept this in mind whilst doing mine, particularly
on the hair. The poses were my favourite from the composition
experiments plus a couple that I spontaneously decided to do whilst
painting.
As I did more painting I began to work out exactly which colours
produced the skin tone I needed and thus it became easier
and quicker.
9. PORTRAIT PAINTING: FINAL OUTCOME
In this project I thoroughly developed my ideas throughout,
beginning with the initial researching stage at the National Portrait
Gallery. I then used these pieces to develop my own initial ideas in
the form of eight compositional drawings, and then four painted self
portraits.
I found painting my final piece to be easier than the other small
paintings due to the fact I now knew how to mix the exact right
colour, and the best techniques. For example, I found that using a
palette knife was the best way to lay down the base colour as it gave
a texture to it. Also because acrylic paint dries darker than how it
looks, I had to always mix it a little bit lighter than what I wanted.
I also found that in portraiture its better to look a the subject as a
whole instead of at all the small details. This can actually make it look
more like the subject as their features do not exist alone but
together.
10. REFLECTING ON YEAR 1
In year 1, the first project ‘Equivalents’ was probably the biggest learning
experience as I was thrown into having to do a substantial amount of work
quite quickly – something I hadn’t done before at GCSE. It was also the first
project in which I did drawings from observation which is obviously
something that is imperative within my work now. Being introduced to the
workshop and sculpture also widened my skillset, even if I didn’t find those
areas as interesting as others.
Since September my skills and understanding have progressed hugely
whether it be in mixed media, drawing, painting, sculpture or print. This has
helped me recognise where my strengths and weaknesses are.
Drawing and painting are my strongest areas as well as the
things I enjoy most out of everything we did last year. On
the other hand, my weakest areas are sculpture and
anything computer based because I find it difficult to
produce work I'm proud of using these medias and they just
don’t interest me as much in comparison.
11. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
At the beginning of the year I wasn’t sure what area of art and design I wanted
to pursue and so had my mind set on attending an art foundation course to give
me more time to experiment with a variety of disciplines and make a decision
from there. This then changed into wanting to go to university straight away to
do a degree in fine art.
However, over the summer I researched more into what degrees were available
and have since decided that illustration is more suited to me. This is due to the
fact that many fine art courses I looked at and visited degree shows for were
based a lot around conceptual art which doesn’t appeal to me. It also seemed
that illustration degrees actually teach you how to develop your skills and
techniques whereas fine art had a lot more freedom but less teaching. I also
found that many people said illustration offers more career paths to go into
after university.
To be able to do a degree in illustration I will need to do well in my courses at
college, as well as make sure I have a strong portfolio of drawings, paintings and
other illustrative work. In year 2 I'm going to focus my projects much more
around illustration in order to have a lot of work which will help me get onto a
degree course. I will also create my own illustration brief for my EPQ and build a
well developed sketchbook for it along with a final piece.
