In this
exercise, we are asked to decide on the scale, position of the sitter,
background and light source. We are also
to decide on the colour of the background/clothes the sitter is wearing and
what effect different colours would have on the face and the relationship to
the background of the picture.
As this is
another self-portrait, I decided to use a photograph in order to choose a
different angle for my face (see early notes about eyesight!). As my last self-portrait had a very smooth,
blended finish and monochrome tones, I decided that I wanted to try to achieve
a much looser feel to this portrait, and also to expand on the colour used.
On my last visit to the National Portrait
Gallery (BP portrait awards), I viewed Self-Portrait (oil on canvas mounted on
board, 350mm x 400mm) by Roni Taharlev an Israeli portrait artist http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/bp-portrait-award-2012/the-exhibition/exhibitors/bp-2012-exhibitor-42.php The blurb on
the website states: “Roni Taharlev studied at the Jerusalem Studio School. Her
work has been seen in group exhibitions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Her solo exhibition
of portraits inspired by the arts of ancient Greece, Fayum, Rome and the
Renaissance was seen at Gallery Livia, Jerusalem. This self-portrait is part of Taharlev’s
ongoing series of works inspired by the art of the past.” Unfortunately, even thought she has a
website, there is very little information about the artist on her aims/ways of
working.
The muted
tones and loose brushwork originally attracted me to this portrait,
particularly the way in which she has used the more neutral background colour
to set off the flesh colour the face (even though, if you squint there is
little tonal variation between the two in places). There are, however, also areas of quite
bright colour, especially around the eyes, nose and chin, as well as a patch of
red in the hair (scarf?) that draws the eye around the portrait.
My natural
colouring is fairly pale, but I have very dark eyes and hair so, if completing
a realistic portrait, it will always have strong contrasts. I felt I would like to move towards a softer
feel, with a smaller tonal range and to try to lose the edges of the
features. This was also influential in
my decision to keep the background and clothing in the same colours used on the
face (rather than the actual black of the jumper and pale walls behind me).
I decided
that, to avoid being too concentrated on the detail of the features, I would
make a charcoal sketch, and then work from this rather than the photograph (which
was not brilliant quality anyway - iphone!).
The view is almost profile, with just a small area of the cheekbone and
eye showing and is of the opposite side to my first self-portrait. In terms of composition, I also wanted to
widen the view slightly by including more of my shoulders and to add a little
detail of the clothing worn.
My first
thought on how to encourage a looser style would be to use a canvas pad rather
than the oil painting paper I have been using for portraits, mainly because the
canvas paid has a more open, pronounced weave, and is slightly larger to allow
freer brushwork.
While thinking
about how best to approach a looser and more textured feel to the portrait, I
remembered I had done a sample (which I didn’t end up using) when experimenting
for the “conveying character” portrait.
This was applying an acrylic texture medium (impasto paste) and then
painting over with oils, basically for speed, as oils applied that thickly take
an age to dry. It also stops you being
too fiddly and precise, because the texture prevents you from creating too
precise a line or blending too carefully.
The Taharlev
portrait uses muted colours which I think are more earth-tone based so I
experimented with colour mixes using my earth colours: Indian Red, Burnt Umber,
Raw Umber and Raw Sienna (plus the addition of a little Lemon Yellow). I began with a gradation of Indian Red &
White, then created various mixes using Lemon Yellow, French Ultramarine, Raw
Sienna and Raw Umber.
I then created
another page of gradations of Raw Umber, Burnt Umber and Raw Sienna plus white.
Some of these
colours appeared either too pink or too much like the “flesh tone” you can buy
(which really isn’t!), but after I had mixed a gradation of raw umber and
placed a mid-tone of this next to the Indian Red tones, I felt the combination
of the cooler (and grey-green tinged) Raw Umber contrasted well with the Indian
Red mixes and neutralised them down somewhat.
I also placed a group of colours next to each other (loosely) as well as
overpainting various tones to see the results.
Again, so that
I could work more loosely, I decided against drawing the portrait onto the
canvas first, but instead drew grid lines onto the canvas as a guide. I then covered the entire canvas with the
acrylic impasto medium using an old brush and short, random strokes to add a
little texture of the surface.
The final
colours I decided to use were (all mixed with titanium white):
1 - Indian Red
2 - Indian Red & a small amount of lemon
yellow
3 - Indian Red & a larger quantity of
lemon yellow
4 - Raw Umber
In the first
session (approx 3 hours), I wanted to complete as much of the face as I could
while the paint was wet. I began with
the forehead and hairline and worked my way down the face, leaving the detail
of eye and nose until I was sure I was happy with the rest of the face. I applied the paint with a small and medium
filbert and then loosely blended with an old, rough bristle brush.
In terms of
the colours used for different areas, I used more of the Indian Red/Lemon
Yellow mix (no 3) on the forehead next to the hairline, more of the pinky
Indian Red (no 1) around the eyes, cheeks and nose (because these areas
naturally are more highly pigmented, and the Raw Umber mix (no 4) for around
the jawline and shadow detail. The main
skin tone areas were the lighter tones of no 2 and no 3.
For the
jumper, I loosened the paint with turps and, using the more yellow of the
mixes, loosely painted in the detail of the jumper. To depict the ribbing, I simply used the
white of the canvas to create the detail, quickly moving my brush in a zig-zag
manner to create the lines. The
background was created simply by scumbling the paint, using lighter tones on
the right of the face and darker ones to blend in with the hair at the nape.
At this stage,
I realised the ear was out of scale and too large and so waited for the paint
to dry before correcting it. I also
slightly darkened some areas of the hair and added wispy strands around the ear
to soften the outline slightly.
I think this
is the most accurate self-portrait I have done so far – it really does look
like me! In the last self-portrait, I
really struggled with the eyes and lips, but I think applying the paint more
softly has really helped here (especially on the lips, which are almost lost
into the colour of the chin). I have
also managed not to create such harsh edges; adding the texture to the canvas
before painting really helped here.
There area some areas where I am not
altogether happy with the colours (think the neck shadow is too bright, and
possibly the yellower tones on the forehead may be a little bright), but
overall I feel the painting works – there are no areas which really jar. By leaving the canvas its natural colour
allowed me to use the white in the painting (transparent areas of the jumper
and hair especially) to create some of the highlights and almost creates a glow
in the painting. I really like the
colour combination – red is my favourite colour anyway, and I think this
portrait has a very autumnal feel about it, which is quite apt bearing in mind
the time of year.
