Tag: Face and Figure

I continued with research and has a further look at the Fauvists movement, to help inform my next practise.

At this point I continued research on colour, values, grounds and balance here.

Very simple charcoal outline seems to be more effective than too much detail at this early planning stage.

Very red-orange even with highlighted left background. However, I like it as this one complements the green of the face and apron

I decided to bring the majority of the background back to yellow ochre to complement the blue-purple of the dress and hair. Another option is to highlight the face with yellow ochre as well.

Aside from the too-dark patch on the cheek, I like the effect of this style of painting. This one was based on a tetrad of Yellow Ochre, Blue-Green, Blue-Purple and Red-Orange. What I have learned from this and my research is to consider what colour to make dominant. At the moment it is equally balanced but the red-orange seems to overpower the picture.

I enjoy the second one too, it has an art deco sharpness to it, unintentional but eventually the marks were being over-worked I think and it became this way.

What I like and will take forward in my assignment:

• Tetrad colour scheme of Yellow Ochre, Blue-Purple, Red and Green
• Mixed background in unequal amounts and work on shading in the background around the body

The picture on the left originally felt it had too much dark tone, contrasting too much with the (wrong) high-key orange in the face. I think this one has more interest, all over, with the mixed coloured background as well. This is the same painting, my final study. I seem to have returned to a similar palette to my previous attempt. Both seem to work to me, the colour are not in equal amounts.

• I will make a new pose, more dynamic
• I will add a flower in the hair, as a touch of detail and will keep the apron. The colours and objects reflect the personality
• I have spent some time working with colour schemes but I realised again how they can create spontaneous emotion. So I will see how they evolve at the time, even though I am drawn to this tetrad a lot!

New pose

Composition

I tried both portrait and landscape composition as I wanted the background to be a feature, I wanted to see how I could use the orientation to best effect.

The painting is not the feature here! This was a quick study in placement.

I have to say at this point that this has been the biggest leap in my courage, to create a self-portrait. I left this exercise to the end because I was nervous. I wanted to complete this further as an assignment for my own confidence and self-development.