Acrylic and charcoal on hardboard 24" x 24" It is hard to believe that an earlier stage consisted of bright cadmium red, yellow and cobalt blue - oh and plus ultramarine violet - just slapped on any old way. I hope it gives a kind of depth. It's funny - I didn't plan to paint this in this way. I intended a much more abstract output but the process kind of insisted itself. Technically, I kept working with charcoal in between acrylic sessions and then fixing the whole surface with Daler Rowney fixative. It fixes great on the acrylic surface. If it's technically risky then too bad - that is what I want to do. I'm still liking the asymmetry of faces as you can see and I loved working on this bigger size of support.
8 comments:
Really love this style. And wow that is a large painting!
Beautiful. Love the depth and expression.
XO Barbara
Sheila this is wonderful. It's my favourite of all your portraits to date and has a real sense of the person, especially in the eyes. More than that, the paint and streaked charcoal have combined (not on their own!) to capture a real sense of character and time worn and earned wisdom. Masterful.
Thanks Teri - I see you are into faces too. I just enjoyed a few moments of browsing your blogs. Yes, it felt "big" but I felt at last here is something I can get my teeth into. I actually loved working on that bigger size and it made the face about 3 times life size which was so interesting to do.
Barbara, thanks. You always say kind things. I'm glad you can see depth because there are many layers of thin paint on there. It's a bit difficult to know when to stop but so far since "completing" it I have not had the urge to fiddle with it so it must be finished.
Theresa, I really value your opinion on my work and I'm so glad you rate this one. Its fun to work with the paint and the charcoal. I was risking it using fixative but it also seems to give a little bit of a sheen to the whole surface and then when you go on top to work some more with acrylic it feels kind of "solid". Weird but interesting.
i love the play of colours and the lines in this! it captures so much Sheila!
Rahina, thanks for your visit. Good to know you like this one. It's been an interesting workout.
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