Karart Blog

Back in the studio today I have started work on the idea of adding a hand mirror into my painting. I did some research on other artists who have explored mirrors and reflections in pieces of their work. One of them is Daphne Todd, OBE who is an English artist born 1947 and attended the Slade School of Fine Art. She was the first female President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 1994–2000, and who won the BP Portrait Award 2010.

Daphne Todd,Me in a Magnifying Mirror, 2001, 40.6”x40.6”.

Another is Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) who is best known as a graphic artist, but also made beautiful and fascinating images using different printing techniques. This lithograph is particular relevant to my working practice at the moment.

MC Escher, Hand with Reflecting Sphere, Lithograph, 213mmx318mm.

I think this self-portrait is amazing. The detail and shapes are brilliant and I think from studying these two pieces of work I can begin sketching and taking photographs to see how I can incorporate the mirror and start painting.

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Kathryn Raffell, 2015, sketch on paper and 2 photographs.

From these I painted her right hand holding a mirror with the reflection of a face looking out at the viewer.

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Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, close up and full size painting, 180cmx120cm.

Am really pleased with how this has added to the overall composition. I wanted the mirror to reflect an image of a face to suggest that someone is standing in front of the painting and gazing on the female in the painting. It is about how we cover and adorn ourselves to wrap ourselves in an image in how we want others to perceive us. Another way to cover or disguise her inner self is by covering her face with a mask. It seems to allow her to gaze out at the viewer but acts as a barrier to the viewer seeing her.

Today was very energetic. No more pondering on what to do next as I knew that painting the mask  to cover the entire female face was the objective. Being opaque sheet it was simple to trace the outline of the face. Next paint paynes grey graduating the colour tones from light to dark and from left to right across the marked oval and wait for it to dry and cut out.

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Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acetate sheet and acrylic paint, 40cmx35cm.

This is me cutting out and testing that colour and shape are good, they are!

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acetate sheet and acrylic paint, 40cmx35cm.

Here is the end result. It is exactly as I wanted. It is an obstructed view of her face, it signifies to me a masking or covering of the female, she is shielding herself from the gaze. She has added another layer almost an outer skin hiding the structure of form, camouflage!

James Ensor (b1860 – d1949). Ensor is often referred to as “the painter of masks” . Although he made paintings, drawings, and prints of other subjects it was his paintings of masked figures that drew my attention to him when I investigated human identity within my year 2 work.

Self-portrait with Masks (detail), 1899, Menard Art Museum, Komaki City, Japan

This revisiting of identity and covering or cloaking of ourselves has drawn my attention back to the previous large canvas that I worked ,  which I wrapped in brown paper and put to one side.  This is the ideal opportunity for me to unwrap it and see how I feel about it. Having studied it I am thinking that I am going to work on her face as I can now see that her nose is not right.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, detail of canvas 180cmx120cm.

Much  better nose shape now (unfortunately I went ahead and re-painted without taking a before photograph so you will have to take my word that it is!).

The mask idea has inspired me to explore the idea of making a smaller mask to only partially cover her face, enough to question why she may have chosen to do this.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, acrylic on acetate sheet, 20cmx10cm.

And here is the mask placed across her face. My tutor suggested putting holes in the canvas and tying the mask on but I think I will only add thin ribbon to the sides of the mask to hand down, to suggest that it is tied there. I have feathered the colour of the  mask to link to the feathering of the peacocks on the kimono and lined the eye cut outs with blue, suggestive of peacock feathers.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on canvas and acetate sheet, detail of canvas 180cmx120cm.

Now that I have “masked” her face I am thinking of painting a reflective face in another part of the painting. Her hand resting on her dress would be an ideal place to add in a hand mirror. Lucian Freud often painted his own portrait as a reflection in small mirrors.

Lucian Freud,  Interior with Hand Mirror (Self-Portrait) 1967 (private collection).

I need to find a hand mirror and take some photographs and experiment in some sketches, the angle and face that will work best  in the way I want to use the idea.

As well as laying the stripes of black wavy bands vertically over the face I also placed them horizontally.

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Kathryn Raffell, 2015, acrylic, acetate sheet strips on canvas, segment of 180cmx120cm canvas.

I like the effect BUT both look like representations of hair which is not what I want so next I had the idea of cutting oval acetate sheet and painting them different colours and placing them to cover the face completely.

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Kathryn Raffell, 2015, acrylic, acetate sheet strips on canvas, segment of 180cmx120cm canvas.

Of all of them I think the paynes grey oval fits best with what I am trying to represent. That is the mirroring of the mask she is holding, that even though she has taken away the mask from her own face the viewer is still not able to read her face. It is left to the viewer to read what they, as individuals, decide on the narrative of the painting.

The oval shape, rather than the square, works better and so the next step will be to make one that takes on the exact contours of her face so is more a mask than just an oval. From this point decisions on where to go from here can be made. I have an idea to cut holes for the eyes to be seen.

Today I worked on the second canvas I made to make the work a kind of Diptych (Diptych definition:-modern artists have used the term in the title of works consisting of two paintings never actually connected, but intended to be hung close together as a pair). This is exactly how I intend these to be displayed and so I placed it next to the large canvas and began painting, this way I found it easier to see how the two balanced and connected to each other and I worked.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, 120cmx80cm.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, 120cmx80cm and 180cmx120cm.

I think this extra “panel” extends and balances the composition. It is right but I can’t explain exactly why but I know it does as I saw this elongated type of canvas by Phillip Harris in an exhibition called Reality in the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich. He adds in background which draws the viewers attention into the figure that is the focus of the compositon.

Phillip Harris, Stormfronts, 2010, Oil on Linen, 48″ x 96″

Stepping back from my work, I now think the females face needs working on.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, 120cmx80cm and 180cmx120cm.

I am adding a blue tones to the face and hand and then will overpaint  to see how this works.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, part of canvas 180cmx120cm.

Still not finished – more work needed. Investigate ways to transform the face to inform the narrative of obscuring and its hidden realities. Making an alternative reality exist within my painting is my goal.

Another idea I have is to paint lines down the face as a kind of veil. I cut wavy strips of acetate sheet and placed it onto the face and took photographs.

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Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, part of canvas 180cmx120cm.

I am going to paint the strips black and tomorrow, when dry, see if they might be more effective.

I am exploring how I can make work using the acetate sheet taped to the window. Slight problem – the sunlight/heat on the glass unsticks the tape and the acetate keeps falling away. If I am going to go take this further, I am going to have to either move to a shaded window position or invest in a lightbox.

In the mean time I have painted the face of the female in my large portrait on the acetate sheet and cut into the shape of her face.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on acetate sheet, 30cmx20cm.

I wondered what the face would look like placed over the painting.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on acetate sheet, 30cmx20cm.

Then I explored how it might look if I cut the acetate sheet into strips and taped them onto the window. I moved the strips around to vary the gap between them and even placing another acetate sheet behind to diffuse the sunlight (last photo below).

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Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on acetate sheet, each one 30cmx20cm.

Then I went back to playing with the strips by covering the face on the canvas with them.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on acetate sheet over canvas, 30cmx20cm.

I found that taking a photo of the strips on the face at an angle gave a different effect.

Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on acetate sheet laid over canvas, 30cmx20cm.

Question…. Instead of a partial sanding of the face what might the impact be if I painted strips on it? Would it enhance the narrative of the composition or confuse?

Next steps.

• Make the other canvas and prime ready to hang next to this canvas. The size will be same ratio as the large, 3 to 2, same height but approx 80cm wide.
• Go for the paynes grey colour of the background of this canvas and see where it takes me. I am undecided if the colour should be a solid block or swirls of colour to give depth.