End of Semester

Finished and In Progress

My work thus far has continued to develop into a discovery of what brush strokes and types of paint application contribute to the importance of the subject matter. I have certainly found that even if a technique is not ultimately the right direction for me to go in, it is always worth trying. I speak mostly to my usage of drips at this point. In my first piece I purposefully worked with a great deal of water so that my paint would drip on its own. As I progressed into my second and third pieces however, I found myself adding drips where they would not naturally fall in my initial paint application. Also, with my third piece I experimented with the use of more direct symbolism by adding a different type of mark making over my fathers portrait. I also portrayed my father in a position contrary to a classical portrait. As I work to complete my fourth piece and begin a fifth, I am contemplating whether overlaying marks are too distracting to the viewer and are detracting from rather than enhancing the importance of my father as a subject matter. At this point I think I will continue to ease up on the drips and try applying more paint to the portrait before trying to add symbolism that is too bold or overbearing.  

Elizabeth Peyton

I share Peyton's interest in portraiture. Although she generally works on a small scale, Peyton is able to capture closely rendered depictions of her subjects. She makes a clear effort to make her subjects recognizable to the viewer, but does not resort to photo realism. She leaves her brush strokes visible and allows the paint to take some control with drip marks and layering as seen in her image of Kurt Cobain, 1995. In a number of Peyton's images there appears to be some emphasis on the eyes, something which I have been enthralled with for most of my painting career. Even with loose and expressive brush strokes, the eyes still pop as a reminder that the subject is or was alive at some time. 

Peyton includes, in some of her piece, rather distinct background scenery, such as in her image of John Lennon above. I, however, have not incorporated this aspect into my work. I am still undecided as to whether this is something that would strengthen or detract from my work.

Artist Analysis

Francis Bacon

Similar to some of my recent work, Bacon shows interest in distorting the figure from any sense of photo realism. It appears as though, at times, he is focused on the viewers ability to recognize the figure, but uses mark making to alter the viewers experience with the piece. His use of his subjects excruciating facial features, for example in "Head VI" 1949, shown above, which has incredible strength standing alone without any explanation. This effect is accentuated further by the additional atmospheric brush strokes. I am highly interested in Bacon's ability to represent emotion through such distorted figures. As I continue working this semester, I too, am experimenting with streaking the negative canvas space with erratic mark making and the use of drips. 

I do greatly enjoy and admire some of Bacon's more heavily distorted faces, such as his "Three Studies of Henrietta Moraes," 1969,  however, I am not interested in this process as an avenue for myself at this point. My work is gestural, but I do want to hold on to a more realistic portrayal of the figure. As with Bacon's work, I am not interested in distinct photo realism, but I do want my figures to be recognizable. 

Proposal and in progress work.

            The underlying theme or basis for my project is the subject matter of my father. I plan on portraying my father’s face, whether prominent or subtle. I then want to capture each emotion I feel towards or opinions I have of my father. In addition to symbolism of various types, I intend to use the application of non-traditional colors (i.e. a face would not be painted in flesh tones, but perhaps red and purple or blue and yellow.) The color will help me set the mood of a piece according to what characteristic or emotion I want to evoke. My father does not share much of himself with me, leaving much of his life a mystery. I imagine my father to have many past lives. I currently see him living the life inside his head that is controlled by his chronic depression, and the monotonous active life he carries out on a daily bases, doing the dishes, yard-work, or maintaining the cars and house. I have chosen and begun to research symbolism such as those related to immortality or agelessness: the fungus of longevity, the Amaranth flower and color, oak/acorn, etc. Thus far the nightingale bird, another symbol of immortality, has sparked my interest most prominently. I have envisioned an image combining the face of my father intertwined with that of a nightingale bird. I want to continue looking into mythology and historical writings to find more on symbols of mystery, depression, and wisdom. I do not want my images to be saddening, but beautifully curious. Rather, I want the viewer to feel calm looking at the piece, but wonder whom the face belongs to and how the symbolism is connected. I intend to use acrylic paint on canvas. A variety of brushes and palette knives will allow me to make visibly different brush strokes and layered paint.

Studies

As a painter, I am very discouraged by the brainstorming process, and in turn tend to just start splashing paint on my canvas with only a general idea of what it is I am trying to accomplish. At first skeptical of creating a number of studies, I was surprised by the outcome. Typical words such as emotion, color, texture, expression, etc., scattered the top of my lists of thoughts describing my paintings. So, I naturally began painting arbitrary designs in bright color, and experimenting with different ways I could create texture. I gradually drifted into creating rough facial expressions. It was after stepping back from my work that I realized that perhaps what I am trying to capture is not only a facial expression, but the use of color combinations and visible brush strokes (drips, thick globs of paint) to create a feeling in the viewer. I began to see shapes and figures in the brush marks apart from an obvious sketch of a face. In, a blob of paint that had run down the canvas paper I clearly saw a lonely figure. At this point, I feel the aim of my project will be along the lines of "stylized portrait(s)." I want to clearly depict a face, but want to avoid a classical style straight forward portrait.