It's A Process

 

WHY DON'T THEY LIKE ME?

I haven't done a process post in a while and I thought this painting might be a great example. At first glance, this photo may give the illusion of calm, maybe even happy but it was the reflection of his glasses and that squint that made me take a second look.

See? (no pun intended!) I'm not really drawn to "quiet" and "happy" but what is under the surface. Why is he squinting? Why is that upper lip pulled into an almost grimace? Okay. Maybe the sun. But when you factor in the time frame -late fifties, early sixties  I think, given the photo paper, the frame edge etc (this photo is from a batch purchase on etsy, known as "inherited ancestors" in the mixed media world) you have to consider what wearing glasses back then actually meant. Lesser than. Flawed. Not sports worthy albeit "smart" where smart was a fall-back NOT the desired for default. Particularly for a boy. When you read that into this photo, there's that DISquiet, a crusty juxtaposition that starts to emerge and THAT'S what pulls me in. So how to convey that? 

I decided to create a really strong graphical base, reducing my palette to 4 shades of grey, initially done on a stark white background. Reducing the visual information focuses on the stronger emotional quality. Really putting the focus on that squint, those glasses. As well as that upturned upper lip. 

Then I started to lay in the skin tones over top of those greys but still keeping things really simple, leaving out any detail EXCEPT for around the glasses and the reflections. Laying in layer over layer of colour to build up the skin tones all the while his sweater remains in that graphical grey realm.

I didn't add the background until after the portrait was completed using just red and black to make his face POP! I also used some pencil crayons (aka coloured pencils) to add in some highlights in his hair and also clean up the lines of his glasses. 

I hope reading about some of my thought process and decision making helped you understand "WHY DON'T THEY LIKE ME?" a bit better. Let me know in the comments, I'd love to know!