Started work on a new project. After taking rapid phone photos of my peer group I’m now making acrylic portraits trying to capture the essence of each one rather than a realistic image.
Looking at Hockney’s portraits gave me the idea. They’re quite simplistic, pared down to the recognisable essential qualities of the person. Why try to capture a photographic exact likeness when a camera can do it so much more easily. And as he says, it’s fleeting. We change minute by minute and age year by year so it’s not possible to freeze an image but you can still recognise each other because of that elusive essence of who you are. That’s the bit I’m painting I hope.
