Natasha A Portrait Digital SKB

Benjamin Hope Benjamin Hope is a London based figurative artist. In developing my study of my dad’s portrait series. I was inspired by him to create one of the pieces strongly, I discovered his art during research and was particularly inspired by a sketch of his I saw on Facebook with a similar pose. I love his use of colour in an impressionistic manner and tried to emulate that and the vibrant background with my piece.

His work was a very candid observer nature.

2018

Alex, soft pastel,2019

“Small portrait of Elliott� oil, 2019

Image found from ….

I wanted to start honing in on my ideas surrounding my subject of the body as a vessel so I took photos of my mum outside.

I wanted the photos to be very expressive in nature and including her body to give it a figurative element.

My favourites were the third and last one.

The third looks really sad whilst the last one depicts frustration and confusion strongly.

Relative artist to colour study

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Print of shut up by Margaret Mccoona, https://megmcconn.bigcartel.com/product/print-o f-shutup Image courtesy of Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari and Jari Hietan. https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https://w ww.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/12/30/25 8313116/mapping-emotions-on-the-body-love-m akes-us-warm-all-over

I came across Mccoona’s work on twitter and have seen numerous pieces she has shared on the app. I don’t think there is an influence in my piece but rather similarities in rather gothic colour palettes with heavy dark tones and strong reds and black.

I came across the second image on tumblr and thought it went really well with my whole subject of “the body as a vessel” in relation to the broader theme of transformation. In the sense that it visually shows the human body transformed by emotions through colours. The colours remind me of thermal colours in a way but I still love it all the same and chose to pick strong “emotions” of the picture and their colours to work with and study using different media.

Relative artist to colour study

“Mom� by Jordan Casteel.

2013, Oil on canvas

With one of my experimentations, I believe I created something influenced by the work of Casteel particularly this one with the way the colours have a moving and motion quality almost like they are melting achieved through curved lines with brush stroke and use of colour. I believe I emulated such.

Study of colour, photos and media : Thoughts and Reflection In the process of exploring my given theme of the body as a vessel in line with the given topic of transformation; I decided to undergo a study of 3 different variables. That is photos in relation to time, colour and its effect on the meaning of said composition in relation the expression of emotions and media that is acrylic and watercolour.

The first thing I took to studying was actually media in relation to colour. As previously stated I used the photo of the body with different emotions represented by colour. I chose “shame” which had very bright reds and highlights of yellow and then “sadness” which had strong blacks and red highlights. The colour contrasts were very strong.

I found it very intriguing working with them as they were challenging along with the whole process. I am used to painting using palettes I’m pretty comfortable with particularly since I usually paint people of a similar complexion that is brown skinned black people as I am very passionate about representing people like me.

Study of colour, photos and media:Thoughts and Reflection.

Acrylic on paper.

As previously said, working which such contrasting colours was a challenge but a learning process for me as it allowed me to understand the importance of tone and highlight. It also allowed me to properly see the effects colour palettes have on translating emotion. Like I found in both studies done I found that the “shame� palette of yellows and red translated a more saddened expression. I think this study came out well and I learnt a lot from it.

I also wanted to study different media, choosing acrylic and watercolour. I’m not really familiar with either medium but I wanted to challenge myself to work out of my comfort zone as with the colour palette too. The watercolour has a softer quality too it whilst the acrylic had a harsher and stronger quality which I believe only made the colours bolder and more expressive which I liked.

Watercolour colour on paper.

Study of colour, photos and media : Reflection and Thoughts.

Since I preferred the acrylic I decided to experiment more with it using the “depression” palette of blues and black. I think the colours are very symbolic with blues particularly dark tones often represent sadness and black having dark connotations and symbolism.

Something I realised throughout this process was that each time I drew the photo of my mum the outcome was different. I had mixed opinions on it at first because I felt like it wasn’t resembling her the more I drew it. I believe that the first time I drew it it was the best because I was observing it more acutely in contrast to drawing the same picture 7 times were it gets boring and more of a task than an observation. Some would argue the opposite in the sense that by doing it repeatedly you have more knowledge and understanding of the picture and it develops more with each observation being better than the previous but I’ve found the opposite for me. But overall I didn’t mind too much as the picture was constantly being transformed each time and whether it resembled her or not, the face was not important but rather the form and the intention of expression.

As I did my last experimentation of the study using the “depression” palette I loved it. I did them at different time periods using different minor variations of the palette. I did the second one weeks after the first one and found it interesting how I painted so differently. I used the app Adobe Capture to do minor variations to the colour app using the colour tool and moving the circles to selected places to achieve said revamped palette.

In developing my ideas, I took photographs of my dad,inspired by Clive Barker’s “despair” as I was heavily captivated by that piece with its ability to portray strong emotions.

In doing this photo shoot, posture was important in executing the desired concept along with facial expression and angle. As I tried different angles, facial expressions, the last one became my favourite as I thought it beautifully emulated a troubled person in its essence.

Bringing my ideas to life, I drew one of my chosen pictures out on a board of wood. I then proceeded to use acrylic to paint with it. I didn’t have a lot of acrylic, I only had the primary colours, white and black. So I worked with those, I pushed myself to try and create colours to work with the photo and the mood of it. I think I achieved a good outcome and learnt more about colour mixing through the process. The finished product has an impressionistic style to it in terms of brush strokes as I painted in in small visible horizontal brush strokes, the colour palette is very expressionist though with colour palettes bearing similarities to that of Edvard Munch.

Clive Barker I came across Barker’s work when I was creating a mood board for this transformation project. I love how he depicts emotion so vividly in his work.

I believe he achieves this through colour palette and and his brush strokes.

In my painting, I have strived to achieve something similar.Yet I don’t i was able to for many reasons. After properly studying the piece for a bit. I noticed the way Barker implemented techniques like “dry painting” which is painting with dried paint.

Despair,2007. Oil on canvas.

Along with strong highlights against shadows. Yet it is still a response piece all the same. I haven’t done the background but I will experiment with it in terms of backgrounds using digital apps like Adobe Photoshop to not cause any permanent change.

Digital Experimentation As previously said, I wanted to experiment with the background using apps: Adobe Photoshop and Paper.

I went about this by first putting my painting in Photoshop and then cutting out the wooden background using the “cut out” function. Then I went to the paper app and then using the brush app or create a background. I really wanted to use the colours : purple and green.

Although often associated with royalty,purple can also symbolise mystery. This and a darker shade emphasises this with it carrying a more darker connotation. I wanted to incorporate green too particularly darker shade as this can have a symbolism of greed and jealousy yet green also generally symbolises growth, so there is a juxtaposition in putting the two colours together, emulating “troubled” feel and mood of the piece.

After doing all of the backgrounds and cutting out the wooden background, I then proceeded to merge the two together I did this by layering the painting over the digital background.

I played around and added more to the background using a marker like tool at first, then added more colours to it, I wasn’t satisfied so I checked out the merge tool and proceeded to edit it colour wise and make it darker. Yet I still wasn’t satisfied and realised that I actually didn’t like the marker tool.

I created a new background, this time keeping it simple with vertical strokes, variation of tone and adding a few more colours like brown and blue to merge the painting palette and the background palette more smoothly.

I then proceeded to play around with the “blend” tool. I loved the results the “multiply” and “difference” effects gave me. The way they worked with the colours and how you could use the opacity slide box to change the potency and strengths of the colours.

My favourite was the one above as I felt like it wasn’t doing too much and was appropriate yet I still love the others displayed.

Artist references for the painting (more) I think in certain ways, my life shares some similarities with these artists in the one to the left, I think there are similarities in terms of usage of colour. She uses different hues of brown along with strong reds and a bit of green. Although a bit different in colour palette, I see similarities.

El Greco’s piece below comes to mind when I look at the way I did the jumper on my own work. The distinct sleeves with bold highlights and strong shadows.

Untitled by @erincalexis on Instagram.

“El Salvador” by El Greco 1608-1614, oil on canvas

I wanted to do another response piece as I felt like it needed to be done so I picked the other photo I really liked of my dad and drew it. I worked with watercolour instead which was more challenging and harder as I wanted to try and incorporate the “dry painting technique” which involved painting using pretty much dried up paint so that I could actually incorporate some of Barker’s technique. Using this technique with watercolour wasn’t the best in comparison to the times I have done it with acrylic.

I also did a background inspired by Barker again using my own colours and I actually liked it. Particularly the dried up parts.

Overall, I didn’t really like the outcome but it was good to still try and attempt.

Distortion Distortion can be defined as the action of altering the shape or other characteristics of something.

I believe artistic things can be distorted by various means: - Repetition:. When the same thing is drawn repeatedly but in different positions, it changes the focus and doesn’t give the same form due to intersections of lines and change of light and dark concentration.

- Overlap: this links to repetition - Mirroring and flipping: Mirroring opposite sides can create a distorted view same as flipping the orientation as it changes the structure of any given form.

- Blurring and focus: choosing to blur certain aspects of a piece changes the form with a difference in shadows and highlights to a certain degree and detail.

- Collages: can interrupt and distort imagines through the introduction of different images and materials.

Distortion links to the idea of transformation as it is a process of changing and transforming. It also links to my exploration of the body as a vessel as I try to look at in in terms of figurative forms.

Distortion and experimentation

In exploring ideas surrounding distortion, I first went on Adobe Photoshop I decided to engage with the idea of repetition and overlap by playing with the image layers and their opacities.

I then drew the outcome, her one to the right at the top, drawing it was very difficult as I felt like my vision was blurry and seeing 2 different things at the same time like a hallucination.

Perhaps this could have had a better outcome than the one above if I had a projector and had varied opacities.

The one to the right, was done of a picture alone and trying to distort it in drawing with usage of line.

Influences : Francis Bacon Francis Bacon was an Irish born British figurative painter who was recognised for his distinctive “raw, emotionally charged imagery”. He was born on 28 October 1909 and passed on 29 April 1992.

Three studies for Portrait of Lucian Freud by Francis Bacon oil on canvas, 1965

I really like his work as I love how he is able to distort and abstract subjects.

There is a clear influence of Picasso with distorted faces achieved through changes in structure with introductions of morphed shapes along with trong highlights and tonal work to show light and dark.

I particularly love the work he produced during the 1960s and 1970s, its figurative and distorted qualities.

Portrait of George Dyer staring at Blind Cord, 1966

Self Portrait, Francis Bacon, 1969

His legacy is enduring and significant with its influence on artists like Hockney in the 60s and even across other media with it inspiring sculptors like Bruce Nauman and Barney’s installations. Filmmaker Christopher Nolan was also greatly inspired by Bacon with reproductions of Bacon’s paintings featuring in Inception 2010 and requesting for the makeup of Heath Ledger’s “Joker” in Batman The Dark Knight to resemble Bacon’s thick impasto specifically.

I took a different approach, I decided to properly study Bacon’s woke before doing this experimentation. I saw how he used lines to distort and his use of shapes and drew guided by new discoveries. I then studied his work more and decided to paint my drawing. I used watercolour for this as it was what I had but I feel like it went excellently having a very “moving� quality to it. I learnt the importance of tone whilst loving implementing new colours to the piece. I used lines to cut through the lips and gave the eyes two different sizes. I love the way it turned it out and believe it bares similarities to Bacon in some ways.

Influences: Cubism Cubism is an early 20th century radical art movement that transformed European painting and sculpture along with other artistic expressions like music, literature and architecture. The movement was pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque even though Paul Cezanne is considered the father of the movement as a whole.Cubism birthed other art styles and movements like Orphism, Abstract art and Purism but further movements like Futurism, Art Deco and Constructivism were developed in response to Cubism.

Mural by Miguel Ángel Belinchón

“Portrait of Fernande” by Picasso,1909

In most Cubist artworks, the outcomes are achieved by analysing and breaking down the components of the work. At times different view lights are introduced to make the art more contextual. I believe in creating my response piece to Francis Bacon, I went through that process as described on the previous page. I’m not a big fan of Cubism in general but I do find it interesting to look at but more so to experiment with.

Jenny Saville Jenny Saville is a contemporary British painter who is internationally recognised for her “stylised nude portraits of voluminous female bodies�. She