All for one!
Who to include in the cluster of portraits in theory seemed a difficult task. In reality it wasn’t. The strong portraits stayed strong and the weak ones in their own right were transformed when placed in a group context, a kind of socialism of artworks.
Which is partly the point. We are all in this together, can we similarly solve problems facing society with collaboration and collective effort?
Having established that most of the portraits worked with each other – they propped each other up and helped each other out – the only problem to face was an enjoyable one of choosing their arrangement and choosing which worked best alongside each other.
Having tried many arrangements it turned into a question of dynamics and design, which design created the best flow and the most visually attractive look. It really was just playing, creating and having fun.
I was pleased with the interaction, how these portraits had a dialogue with each other, and was pleased with the emotional reaction they drew when looking at them all together. The feeling was a strange one when looking at so many portraits as one and where so many of the faces were looking directly back. Hopefully they will elicit a similar reaction in the viewer.
Day 1 Almost There!
Final stages of the large portraits. The main areas to address are the detail around the eyes and to add more life and texture to the flatter areas of tone in order to create volume in the portrait. Finally there are key areas already plotted out for the cardboard to be torn away to reveal the under layers of the board.
Day 2 I Did It!!
All the final stages were navigated successfully and I was satisfied with the overall look of the painting. I regard it as a success and i definitely tackled the second large work with much more confidence. Particularly pleasing were the torn areas. From a distance the torn areas contribute another tone and closer up they reveal texture and provide a sculptural quality.
The work of Vhils was very much in my mind when conceiving these works, the concept of portraying ordinary people as iconic and monumental is very important to me and to this artist. I am sure I have quoted Vhils before, but I don’t mind repeating and emphasising his words.
“The majority of portraits I’ve created in this Scratching the Surface series have been based on anonymous, unknown people – people not even I know. I value the idea of turning ordinary people into icons, to contrast this with the need people seem to have of creating icons in the first place. Instead of creating icons out of people who have changed history or are celebrities of some sort, like what Warhol was doing with Mao Zedong, Marilyn and others, I take an ordinary person and try and make other people think about themselves reflected in this person, who is also struggling to get by in this day and age. There is an untapped source of wealth in the individual, the unknown everyday heroes we all are in the massive struggle of life.”
http://laist.com/2011/11/10/interview_with_vhils.php
Things are Getting Better!!
Feeling a lot more positive about these works. After adding another couple of layers of paint I can see them begin to develop. It looks like with plenty of work these paintings will have the epic look I have been after. They seem to be developing much in the same way as the other smaller scale works that I have been used to, logically I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting them to. The real difference is the sheer amount of work, the larger areas I am having to cover, and the logistics of mixing the tones I need in greater quantities. Obviously this means an increased workload and increased fatigue but the results are outweighing any drawbacks. The final stages are yet to come but if they continue to develop in this way they will be successful.
Time to Face the Big Ones!
I finally have the nerve up to attempt the large scale portraits.
My intention is to paint two compositions both filling 180cm x 120 blocks of cardboard. My nervousness is probably justified as having never painted on this scale before, failure would cost a considerable amount of time and expense.
There were technical difficulties to overcome even before painting commenced. My chosen cardboard substrate at 180cm x 120 would have to be thick enough not to bow, so time and effort was needed to pva four sheets of cardboard together to cure this. This hurdle was successfully overcome and painting could now begin.
I am taking these one at a time! I started with Stuart, a homeless man selling the big issue. His face was scaled up and satisfactorily drawn onto the board. My aim with the large scale is to give these people a monumentality, a physicality, and a presence which I believe is needed to emphasise the importance of the issue I am trying to portray.
I want the viewer to notice these people!
With the drawing successfully translated I could begin to paint. The basic tones were then blocked in. At this stage I am not happy, the large scale is not yet impressing me. It is still early days but at the moment it doesn’t have the presence I was looking for. One positive is that the large cardboard canvas is holding up to the punishment I’m giving it!
A Bad Day to Draw
I chose three interesting female faces to tackle with grey toned marker pens. I began well motivated, keen and positive. Sadly I didn’t finish well motivated keen and positive.
The first two went wrong from the start, marks were too heavy, too light, in the wrong place, too quick, too slow, too thick, too thin. It was a bad BAD day! Both had to be abandoned before I lost it.
Defying all good sense I began on the third which to my surprise started to show some promise. The failure of the first two seemed to be down purely to poor execution, but with the third, the pens seemed to be doing more or less what I was telling them. But then again the subject did seem to be particularly interesting.
With a drawn, gaunt face, penetrative stare and hooded head, it didn’t seem I could mess this one up however much I tried. Poor technique or poor choices? I’m too pissed off to analyse at the moment.
With drawing being an athletic ability I suppose you have to accept that some days you just won’t be on form and some days you will. Perhaps sometimes you just need a little warm up before you can produce anything not worth burning!
