In the interim while I was 'inactive' so to speak, I spent a good amount of effort researching new reference material. I came across a mountain of interesting reference material (thank you, internet.) Some really fascinating stuff that will turn into really cool pieces down the road. More on that at a later date.
At the present, in many ways I am returning to my roots - which, of course, is portraiture and figure.
Four pieces have emerged, three distinctly different visions, three different approaches, and three separate processes.
Cool.
Each one is distinct, yet what they all have in common is a crystal-clear vision of a simple, direct artistic statement, which is unique for each individual piece.
I am resisting the temptation to barge ahead, and enjoying the process of fully developing the ideas, cultivating a clear vision of where I am going with each step.
First, I have been wanting to do a new humorous celebrity portrait. Slash has a visual presence that is unmistakable. The distinctive angles and shape(s) of his face have a characteristic quality that, the more I researched, the more intriguing they became. And yet, in my research, I found very few caricatures that really seemed to zero in on this, let alone nail it. Most of the renditions I found simply missed the point, and missed the mark, of what I thought was obvious.
(Two of my favorites are the painting by Sebastian Kruger - of course it's brilliant - and an elegantly simple caricature by Tom Richmond, which is basically a black shrubbery with a cigarette, top hat and sunglasses. When you look at either of them , you immediately know it's Slash - no doubt about it. That's my goal for the piece, in addition to having fun.)
Seems like a good combination: a challenge, and intrinsically fascinating. So there you go - a perfect candidate for a humorous portrait.
While looking through photos, I was searching for the continuity, what was identifiable and consistent. Looking at hundreds of celebrity photos, and dozens of caricatures, and asking myself what was good in the rare examples - and what was wrong, or lacking, in the multitude of mediocre examples - I was able to find a few common threads that I could build upon.
The sketching for this was fun, and I quickly zeroed in on a concept, design, and point-of-view.
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| Slash - what a face. And all that hair... Plus he wears a top hat that's almost exactly like the one I had in my early days of rock & roll. |
I have also really wanted to do some portraiture, which is my personal favorite. In my research, two reference photos just jumped out at me, and I listen to my intuition when something really grabs my attention.
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| When I saw this I thought what a nice painting it would make. I have not been able to track down the name of the photographer... |
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| The minute I saw this stock photo, I knew what I wanted - I had a crystal-clear vision of a super-tight close up. |
Finally, (although this was actually the first of the four pieces that I started,) for quite some time I have been harboring the desire to further explore the theme in Lady In White. I came across two reference photos and immediately knew how I wanted to combine them. It was on!
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| Two reference photos come together. I even have a title: The Message. |
The common threads in all these pieces are listening to my intuition, cultivating a clear artistic vision for each piece, being patient and starting with a good start.
It's a good start... ;)
It's great to be making art again.
Well, I never really stop making art... something interesting is always percolating in my little ol' brain... That's one of the things about being an artist that's fun. :)
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