A portrait is a portrayal of a person, usually their face, but it can be the whole body. It can be a painting, a photograph, a graphite or ink drawing, a sculpture - it can also be a description in words or film, a line in the sand or the red-ochre pictograms of Neolithic Man. A portrait is most often, a child’s first artistic expression of their mother and/or father. So, ‘All art begins in portraiture’ (J. B. Yeats to his son W. B. Yeats).
The nineteenth, twentieth & twenty-first centuries have been a period of radical change and development and this is reflected in art and portraiture. We no longer need to record a detailed likeness in paint as photography does that for us. Since the mid nineteenth century artists have been free to make their own interpretation of the person and the personality before them.
My practice as an artist is based on a fascination with imaginative portraiture and the representation of the human spirit and character.
This sparked my desire to explore these themes through figurative painting. Whether it’s a double portrait that invites the viewer to engage with both subjects or a passing moment, ephemeral in nature, which is frozen in time enabling one to engage and relate in ways unique to the individual. I choose a variety of different imagery - drawings, photographs and found photographs - to paint based on a subconscious attraction to certain aspects of an image.
‘The Ambassadors’ by William Holbein with its distorted skull is a major inspiration in narrative painting along with ‘The Night Watchman’ by Rembrandt but Hockney’s light effortless paintings along with Bacon’s tortured figures, and Yeo’s technical virtuosity inspire me to acquire more knowledge.
I paint using oils due to the more nuanced properties and possibilities when compared with other mediums. Although this results in paintings taking longer than they would if I were using acrylic, I find that through the extended process of creating the painting I learn about its deeper meaning, as well as learning more about its unique aspects and ways of physically enhancing it than I would If I painted it in a single session; coming back the following day after spending a significant amount of time on one part allows me to see the composition under a new lens.
The challenge of capturing and instilling small pockets of humanity in a single two dimensional frame of canvas is why I paint; It helps me in continuing to explore the nuance and complexity behind human beings, the relationships we form with objects, experiences habits and ultimately ourselves.
My preoccupation has now developed into wanting to make portraits which not only capture physical likeness, but also convey the ‘essence’ of a person. Ultimately, I would like to be able to show my sitters and the viewer, something extra about themselves, something that they may not have seen before. I need my portraits to tell a story.
The nineteenth, twentieth & twenty-first centuries have been a period of radical change and development and this is reflected in art and portraiture. We no longer need to record a detailed likeness in paint as photography does that for us. Since the mid nineteenth century artists have been free to make their own interpretation of the person and the personality before them.
My practice as an artist is based on a fascination with imaginative portraiture and the representation of the human spirit and character.
This sparked my desire to explore these themes through figurative painting. Whether it’s a double portrait that invites the viewer to engage with both subjects or a passing moment, ephemeral in nature, which is frozen in time enabling one to engage and relate in ways unique to the individual. I choose a variety of different imagery - drawings, photographs and found photographs - to paint based on a subconscious attraction to certain aspects of an image.
‘The Ambassadors’ by William Holbein with its distorted skull is a major inspiration in narrative painting along with ‘The Night Watchman’ by Rembrandt but Hockney’s light effortless paintings along with Bacon’s tortured figures, and Yeo’s technical virtuosity inspire me to acquire more knowledge.
I paint using oils due to the more nuanced properties and possibilities when compared with other mediums. Although this results in paintings taking longer than they would if I were using acrylic, I find that through the extended process of creating the painting I learn about its deeper meaning, as well as learning more about its unique aspects and ways of physically enhancing it than I would If I painted it in a single session; coming back the following day after spending a significant amount of time on one part allows me to see the composition under a new lens.
The challenge of capturing and instilling small pockets of humanity in a single two dimensional frame of canvas is why I paint; It helps me in continuing to explore the nuance and complexity behind human beings, the relationships we form with objects, experiences habits and ultimately ourselves.
My preoccupation has now developed into wanting to make portraits which not only capture physical likeness, but also convey the ‘essence’ of a person. Ultimately, I would like to be able to show my sitters and the viewer, something extra about themselves, something that they may not have seen before. I need my portraits to tell a story.