Not long ago I finished this portrait of my brother Jarvis. It is 36x36" and oil on canvas. In this work I continued to explore a larger scale than I am used to as I did in the last painting, Red Plaid Jacket. This scale is quite a bit larger still. The canvas is 36x36" making the head about 3x life size. I am attracted to working on this scale because of the opportunity to get lost in the deeply fascinating landscape of the human face.
There are hundreds of colours and textures there to capture and it is my experience that painting this subject is less about eyes and noses and mouths than arrangements of abstract shapes colours and textures. This size of composition really let me indulge in this kind of painting experience. Of course I still have an arrangement of meaningful items in the portrait besides just the face as I usually do and the passages that surround the actual head on the work also benefitted from my being able to stretch out and explore details on a larger scale than I am accustomed to.
It is hard to see on the screen of the internet but it is this mix of representation and abstraction and materiality and idea that is so powerful in painting and drawing for me. And whether it will lead to larger scales or larger compositions with the life scale I'm not sure, I am just really trying to be as honest with and true to what each work inspires in me. There are two or three in progress that I will be able to share in another month and strangely enough currently on my easel is a portrait commission that is a much smaller scale than I am used to with the head being only 3 inches or so
So there is lots of activity in my studio and the blog will busy this next while as many things come to their finish. And as always I am looking to have more portrait clients this coming year and so if you are interested please ask for more information.
I hope you enjoy these pictures of the work and thank you so much for reading. If you would like to follow the blog, my Facebook page or my Instagram the links are all to the right.
