Crystal -- Capturing the Feeling

Today, I use my painting of Crystal to talk about the emotional content of a portrait.

Anyone with a modicum of effort can get a reasonable likeness. I firmly believe that. But it is the composing and editing of the vast amount of information that makes a painting feel like it has captured a subject's inner life. This can only be done by careful observation--that is standing back and seeing what the painting says at any one moment. Does your most recent mark head you towards a coherent understanding of this person's inner life or does it head away?

This takes practice and it cannot be taught. Some people are simply insensitive to composition and to subtle changes in emotional feel when painting. I know, that sounds mean, but it is simply a fact. Now, I don't mean that a viewer who cannot paint the emotion before them cannot see the emotion when presented by someone who can. Of course they can. That is what makes us human. In this image, I see a very concerned woman whose mind is elsewhere. She is slightly bemused but other issues are her focus. I love this painting. I can see the sadness and intelligence that is at work here and the immense beauty and patience that resides in her.

Our minds are capable of detecting very small changes in the musculature of the face that tell us at a primal level whether we should be afraid, concerned, happy, or whatever. This means that very small changes in your drawing can evoke drastic changes in the feel of your painting.

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