Assignment Three - Portrait and Figure

Background or interior

My first consideration was the question of how important the background / interior is in a portrait painting.  After viewing many paintings, I came to the conclusion that (very broadly!) portraits can be split into two categories:

 Head, head and shoulders, or face portraits – focus of these type of close-up portraits is so clearly the face, so the background is not given the same level of detail as the head/face.   The majority of close-up portraits seem to consist of a plain(ish) colour or limited detail background.  The background is frequently a contrast, whether that be tonal (traditional use of a dark background) or a colour contrast (blues and/or greens frequently used to complement and increase the impact of the flesh tones).

Three examples:

• The first by Sir Thomas Lawrence "Portrait of William Spencer Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire, 1820-1829" uses the traditional technique of a strong tonal background to set off the detail of the face.  In this case, almost a black background is used, with a white stock and collar under the face to further draw attention to it.  Even though the dark clothing is pretty much invisible, the brain “fills in the gaps” and imagines the shoulder line. 
Although this a very traditional and effective way of drawing attention to the face, the ubiquity of this type of portrait from this era somehow makes them less effective.

• "The Skateboarder" by Eric Olson  was viewed at the BP Portrait awards in 2012.  This is a contemporary take on the traditional portrait composition – using tattoos / body art imagery to gives us clues to the sitter.  Using a solid, bright yellow background not only draws attention immediately in a gallery full of neutral or flesh tones, but replicates the bright primaries used on the skin. Although the device of the solid background is traditional, using a strong colour can be more effective in getting, and keeping, the viewer’s attention.  The tonal difference between the background, and the hair and skin gives a definite outline to the figure, and adds negative space – you really see the yellow as a shape in its own right.

• "Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe, 1889" by Van Gogh uses a split background in blocks of orange and red, with the complementary of each used for the clothing in that section (orange background with blue hat – red background with green coat).  The eyeline (and therefore the horizontal centre of the head) has been placed along the edge where the two blocks of background colour meet. Even after viewing this for quite a while, I am still undecided as to whether it actually works.  Although the complementaries provide the necessary contrast, the fact that there are two sets of complementaries splits the attention and I found I ended up looking at the border between the background colours more than I was the face, so in that respect, I feel this is not as successful as it would first appear

• Edouard Manet's "Portrait of Eva Gonzales" was viewed at the RA's Manet exhibition.  It uses the strong tonal contrast of a white dress against a dark background to make the subject stand out.  Although the focus is clearly on the sitter (who is being portrayed as an artist) the scene is very obviously staged, which detracts from the portrait.  My first thought on seeing this painting was that no-one, at any time, would consider painting in a white silk dress, and was also looking to see if she had any paint on her dress!  I think this detracts from the portrait, and so in this case, the background setting has been counter-productive to the portrait’s main aim.

• Berthe Morisot's "Eugene Manet on the Isle of Wight"  is the opposite of the one above – you do feel this is a moment in time captured on canvas rather than being obviously staged.  The artist has included a large amount of background detail – the sea and harbour outside, the woman and child walking past, the garden and pot plants, and gauzy curtains moving in the sea breeze.  The main subject of the painting (the man seated inside looking out of the window) as per the title is not particularly prominent, although the artist has used the strongest tonal contrasts (hat, chair and trousers against pale jacket) to bring our view back to him.  Once you are focused on him, you naturally follow his eyeline and begin to explore the painting further, picking up on all the details you may have missed at first glance.  

• "At this time of night" by Alan Freney (BP portrait awards 2011).  According to the statement accompanying this self-portrait, “Freney wanted to convey the emotions experienced at the end of a relationship. He decided to bring together song lyrics, poetry and a range of different image styles in addition to the portraits as he aimed to: ‘Separate the mental presence from the physical’.”  This is another painting that takes you on a tour around the canvas!  While at first appearing quite haphazard with the graffiti-style backdrop, the canvas is laid out in landscape format, the two portraits are sited on the vertical third lines, neatly dividing the canvas into three sections.  Colour is also used to lead the eye here – the use of the red images in the background lead you from the right-hand side of the canvas, through the feet of the standing portrait towards the red shirt of the seated figure and back towards the standing figure – creating a circular composition within the rectangle.  One portrait is of the artist seated, staring out of the canvas, the other standing and peering forward, as if he is looking over a precipice.  This double portrait creates a tension in the painting – I kept looking from one to the other to try to decide which was more important.  The standing portrait feels like it should be because it is larger, but because the seated figure is actually looking at you, that is the one I was drawn to more.

Full figure or half figure – these types of portrait are more frequently placed in an interior for context and to add “props” (chairs, beds, in the act of doing something or even a landscape) so are necessarily more detailed than a face portrait.  However, adding a detailed background or interior takes away some of the focus on the main subject, the figure, which may or may not be the artist’s intention. 

Having looked at a number of paintings with differing backgrounds, my view as to whether the background is important or not really depends upon the artist’s intentions!  A portrait (whether just face or head and shoulders) should be the focal point, so the background is used mainly to create that focal point – whether that be tonally, texturally or by colour.  However, this does limit the artist somewhat in the other devices he can utilise to create the message he wants to put across, and how the sitter wishes to be portrayed.

Composition

The traditional composition for a portrait is, obviously, for the painting to be composed on a support oriented in a portrait format.  Again, traditionally, centrally positioning the head (both for practical reasons – to give the artist the largest space of canvas to work on, and aesthetically – the portrait is the main focus of the painting) has been the norm.  For head and shoulder portraits, the body naturally lends itself towards a triangular shape (the head being the top angle, the shoulders the bottom angles), and whether the figure is placed square-on to the canvas or angled, these rules still apply.

Although these devices seem obvious for a portrait painting (which because of the subject matters gives a lot less leeway for interpretation or re-arranging, as with, say, a still life), more unusual compositions can be applied to portraits and these seems to be becoming more commonplace, such as the subject lying down, or an unusually high or low viewpoint.

This type of composition renders the subject much less formally although we can feel slightly voyeuristic viewing a resting, or sleeping subject.  One issue with a sleeping /resting subject is that you frequently cannot see the eyes and so lose the ability to read as much emotion in the portrait as can be found when viewing the whole face.

"Woman in profile", 1980-81, Lucien Freud

"Blue One" by Sally Gatie 

Colour

As mentioned above, colour contrasts (whether background objects and/or clothing) can be used to focus on the portrait and make the face more prominent in the painting. 

"Portrait of Patience Escalier, 1888" - in this image, Van Gogh has used the blue/orange complement to create the vibrancy in this portrait.  A bright red accent has been added to the sleeves, scarf and hat which has been replicated in the face.

However, very low-key paintings can also be very powerful and arresting.  I have previously reviewed the portrait of Alessandro Raho's "Judi Dench" earlier in my blog.  The contrast between the white of her hair and background, against the warmer tones of the clothing and skin serve to create an image which quietly demands your attention.

"Portrait of a Peasant" by Cezanne uses shades of grey in the background/clothing of the peasant, I feel, as a means showing his lowly status (along with the body language of slumped shoulders and downcast eyes).  Looking more closely the “grey” is comprised of blue-grey, green-grey, and purple-grey which enlivens the background without the colour dominating.  More of the green shading is used on the face and for shadows.

"Mo Mowlam", by John Keane 2001 - here the yellow background is used to good effect to contrast the pink tones of the skin which match those of the jacket.  The rough paint application on the background and clothes serves to concentrate the view to the more detailed features of the face.

Michael Simpson
 by Paul Emsley
 (NPG Portrait Prize 2007) - I think this portrait is all the more arresting when you realise it has been painted in just two colours (mars violet & blue black) plus white to give all the tones of the face.  The strong directional lighting from above is used create strong shadows and highlights on the face, and especially defines the eyes.

Paint handling / brushwork
The traditional technique of glazing is more commonly used with oils than acrylics, using a glaze comprised pigment, turps, oil (and sometimes varnish).  A grisaille or tonal painting is worked with glazes added to create colour.  The transparent nature of the glazes allows very subtle colour changes to be created over many layers.  Although an excellent way of creating lifelike flesh tones, I know from experience using glazes (i.e. in expressive portrait) just how long these can take to dry, so only practical if you have a very long time frame in which to complete a portrait.

While glazing is the traditional technique for portraits, more interesting finishes can be achieved by more vigorous or obvious brushwork.

Two contemporary portrait artists I particularly admire are Colin Davidson  (see previous review (Michael Longley at the BP Portrait Awards 2012) and Harding Meyer , an artist I discovered whilst undertaking internet research.  Both these artist’s work comprises large scale portraits just of heads, with expressive brushwork and paint handling techniques.

Harding Meyer’s work, although portraiture, are of unknown models.  Meyer uses images from the media which he then crops close so just the face between the forehead and under the chin is shown.  David Galloway states[1]:  “Following the intuitive choice of an image, the artist may well subject it to electronic modifications and manipulations before projecting its outlines onto canvas.  Then, in a process that may take as many as six months, the image is built up in ten to fifteen successive layers, each of which may be streaked and scraped and otherwise ‘maltreated’ before the next is added.  The result often has the feeling of a weathered fresco, where underlying layers are only partially visible.”

He also says “Although he renders his subject with a splendid technical virtuosity, he also repeatedly attacks the surface of the painting in a manner that negates any hint of photorealism or “prettiness”.  Yet these repeated violations also call attention to the very act and process of painting itself.”

It is the combination of an accurate likeness with the interesting surface texture that draws me to both these artists.  You want to spend time looking at them, studying them – the paint is as important as the image.  I want to examine the work closely - working out how they have achieved various areas, what colours they have used and the order the layers were applied to achieve the techniques.

I also considered what draws viewers to large-scale interpretations of the human face / figure (and what makes artist’s create them).  I noted at the time when I visited the NPG Portrait Awards last year that the paintings with the most viewers (who also spent more time looking at the paintings) were the large-scale images (such as Colin Davidson’s).

•  From an artist’s point of view, creating an image substantially larger than the original has always been an exercise in observation; really making you focus on the subject.  I think this works for the viewer as well – because the image is too large to focus on the whole (when closely viewed) you are forced to scrutinise different areas of the painting – it encourages you to look more closely.  Logic would dictate that we would look closer at smaller images but the reverse is true – because your brain can process the whole of a smaller image at once, it discourages closer observation.
• Working large-scale encourages you to be more expressive; there is more canvas to cover, you use larger brushes and more lively brushstrokes.  To create a brushstroke on a large canvas, you physically have to stand up, to move your arms more and be more open which, in turn, reduces your reticence in approaching the subject.  Mark-making is also more expressive, you simply do not have the time (in the context of a time-limited course) to create detailed or fiddly paintings.
• Choice of medium – certain media encourage large-scale work (acrylic (speed of drying), charcoal blocks and pastel sticks especially) and vice-versa.  You need to really think about how you would approach a large canvas – the drying time for oils would be prohibitive to many (although Harding Meyer/Colin Davidson work in oils – Harding Meyer’s work can take up to six months to complete).

Initial experiments:

As mentioned above, I was intrigued by the large-scale canvases and layered texture of Harding Mayer’s portraits and so, as a starting point, began a few experiments on paper using acrylic (drying time of oils prohibitive even though I prefer the rich texture, plasticity and sheen of oil points).

Using Winsor & Newton Galleria acrylics in Crimson, Cad Yellow Medium Hue and Cobalt Blue (my only primaries in acrylic) plus white, I mixed a range of earth / flesh tones which I applied in layers (on paper) – trialling both wetter and dryer paint, and using both brushes (older, cheaper brushes for texture) and an implement (piece of cut up credit card) to achieve the layers.  The edge of the credit card produced very interesting textural effects, but was very fiddly to use due to its small length.  In a previous painting (still life using colour contrast) I used a plastic scraping tool which was quite effective, so I think I will try to find one that is narrower the practice with this.

Some of the experiments were more effective than others – I found the dryer the paint, the easier it was to achieve a streaky, layered look.  I carried our further test patches using different brushes, a colour shaper and two palette knives (on a black canvas ground) which led me to the conclusion that flat brushes produced the texture I wanted to achieve.

After doing these experiments, I quickly came to the conclusion that, if using this technique and style of painting, I would need to use as large a canvas as possible to get the required effect.  Being mindful of the assessment requirement for finished work to be displayed on A1, I decided to create my work on a canvas just smaller than A1 (70 x 50cm).

I felt the pose used in the Head and Shoulder Portrait could be explored further and so decided to crop this close into the face, in the manner of Meyer.  I decided to apply the composition in a landscape format.  By applying a crop to the face, you really have to work to either a square or landscape composition; the new proportions of the subject (i.e. now more square than previously) would not work on a portrait orientation. 

On A3 paper I created two test sketches, firstly in pencil, and then overlaying with loose acrylic.

Obviously, creating a close up of a face limits the ability to experiment with the composition, but I created two alternatives – one with the head central, and the other with the head located to the left (staring out into the empty space remaining on the canvas).  Although I felt the latter composition could be interesting in terms of why that positioning was used, exploring emptiness, etc, I still felt the traditional central (and triangular) composition did, in fact, work best when placed on a landscape format.  I decided a dark background framed the face the most but found using streaky white over the face next to the black also highlighted the face (query strongest contrast – may draw the eye away from the focal point – more thought needed).  

My “mood” wall in my studio.

I created a further sheet of colour mixes using Light Red Oxide, Cadium Yellow Medium, Prussian Blue, Naples Yellow, Cadmium Red and Dioxine Purple.  From this I achieved a range of both cool and warm flesh tones, as well as interesting dark grey-blues and browns for hair tones and shadow/dark tones.  The cooler tones were created with Prussian Blue, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Light Red Oxide and white, with the warmer, pinker tones created with Prussian Blue, Light Red Oxide, White and little Crimson.

For my colour study, I decided I needed to create almost a large a painting as the assignment piece itself: both in order to test how the brushwork looked (mainly width of flat brush) and to test the layers of colour on a large scale.

I created a ground of Prussian Blue and Dioxine Purple painted thinly over a pencil sketch.  I then lightly outlined the main features and edges of the face with white so I could clearly see my outline.

After painting a loose black layer onto the background and darker shadow areas, I then began painting the layers with a number 8 flat brush, using the cooler, more orange tones in layers – working dark to light to create the basic form.

 I then created my pinker flesh tone mix, and continued applying layers – this time with the paint slightly diluted to allow for more subtle layering, followed by the darker tones for hair and shadow areas, using the flat 8, 6 and 2 brushes, as well as a fine brush for fine detail.  Finally small areas of dilute Prussian Blue were added to give a further colour contrast.  All the brushstrokes applied (except for detail areas) were either horizontal or vertical, to achieve the textured finish which exaggerates the canvas weave.

Although the actual drawing of the face is out (mainly line of outside cheekbone down to the jaw) – I was concentrating on the colour mixes and technique of applying the paint so not too worried about this.

I was happy with the technique employed; it draws you into the painting to see through the layers and the individual colours used to make up the skin tones – diluting the top layers does not obliterate the colour below but allows it to show through.  

What works / doesn’t / further thoughts and considerations:

• The layers of colour applied (at a rough count about 18!) work to create a realistic but dramatic effect of skin tones.
• The brushwork creates a layered effect to create textural interest and invite the viewer to take a closer look at the technique used.
• The drafting needs more care!
• Need to consider how to achieve realistic lips – probably need to apply colour here earlier in the process so layers can be added / corrections made at an earlier stage.
• Query whether the same light colour would work better behind the head to frame the face more – bring colour into hair in horizontal bands?

Tried this out and think a lighter colour behind the head works better to define the shape of the head.  However, also highlighted the fact that the head is not wide enough so, again, more care needed with scale.

• Query the light colour in front of the face – would light blue work better (will paint over with dilute Prussian Blue to test this and photograph).

• Brushed over with dilute blue – the blue works better, but could probably be slightly darker so query more layers here.
• The hair needs more work – flat and lifeless in this study, diagonal on forehead too stark a line.
• Jawline too stark a contrast.
• Query whether would be better to have hair tied up loosely to create more movement and interest (as well as delineating the back of the neck area).
• Again, tried this out, but altered the overall composition too much so will leave as original. 

Final Painting

Completed in layers as per study painting:

After getting to this stage, I decided I liked he way the paint on the hair (streaks of brown over the original thin blue coat) worked, so decided to leave it as it was, rather than applying thicker paint over the top. 

I have also left more areas of the original sheer blue ground to show through on the face, as I think this achieves the dual purposes of a cool tone plus adding to the depth of shadow.

Decided after finishing the face that I didn’t think changing the colour of the background close to the face would add anything to the painting – the strong colour contrast and line of the face against the Prussian Blue, I feel, works very well to create a strong profile.

Final Painting below:

Review of this piece:

Although the composition consists of just the cropped face, the area of strongest contrast (the eye) is on the vertical third line (along with the hair parting, the side of the nose and lips) as is the ear against the hair.  A strong diagonal is created (top left to bottom right) running from the top of the ear, down the cheekbone and the bottom of the nose. 

The light source in this painting works to create a strong contrast and define the profile of the face as well as the sculptural nature of the face, especially the brow bone and high cheek bone.

I used strong colours in this painting – the deep, dark blue complements the flesh tones and gives both a tonal contrast to the light of the face and a colour contrast.  A bright terracotta gives strength of colour and shape to the cheeks, while dark blues and browns create the dark shadows on the neck.

The layers of horizontal and vertical brushstrokes create an interesting surface texture to the skin of the face.  Allowing each layer to dry before adding more paint, as well as allowing the bright blue ground to show through in areas, I feel, makes you want to look at the colours individually, as well as the overall image.

Looking at what I was trying to achieve before starting this painting (an accurate likeness with interesting surface texture / making paint as important as the image), I feel this piece is successful.  Even though the acrylic paint used dried very quickly, I left the painting after every few layers; mainly to resist the urge to become too detailed, but also to make informed decisions about the colours being used and how the layering was working.

I really like the streaking effect on the hair – allowing the sheer blue underlayer which had run and streaked to show through the brown (and also the white of the canvas) adds further texture to the portrait.  I think working with streaked, sheer running paint adds spontaneity to a painting, although it is difficult to control.

In fact, I would have liked to have worked larger than this painting, but the constraints of the assessment process meant this was as large as I could go.  I think creating an even larger work would have created a more expressively worked portrait.  I would also like to attempt something similar in oils, working back into the layers to create a more textural image.

---

[1] Harding Meyer and the Family of Man by David Galloway.  Viewed on http://hardingmeyer.tumbler.com/3, 22 February 2013