I’ve been wanting to weave people into my paintings for a long time now. Of course, I have already done some studies of Syrian refugees. But portraits and figure studies are completely different from florals, fruits, and the large-scale clouds I most recently finished. So my goal is to develop a consistent style in approaching the portrait, just as I did with my other subjects.
I’ve been experimenting with different approaches to the beautiful beings I’ll be teasing out of the recesses of a blank canvas or paper. I love drawing in charcoal, which is how I created my sketch of the Syrian girl above. But I also love loading a brush with color and building layers of hue and value until the features of a face slowly emerges from the surface. That is what I did in the painting on the left, which is currently in progress.
As I move forward, perhaps I’ll incorporate charcoal sketches with vibrant oils. It’s an exciting exploration, and I’ll be sharing the results with you as it progresses.
