Being a portrait artist I'm always in need of a model so my own face is the obvious choice- I'm the only person who is always willing and available for a live sitting. I've been looking back over some of my self portraits from my early 30's to present day . It's strange seeing them all together for the first time and how they tell a story of me and my journey through painting.
Some are detailed depictions, others are quick studies, some more successful than others, each one a different version of me.
Some of them remain unfinished where I abandoned them through frustration or boredom. Painting myself from life gives me freedom to take the portrait where I want it with no pressure to come to a final resolution. Seeing them now I quite like them in this un-perfected state where I've stopped before the risk of over working.
Each portrait has a slightly different approach depending on which Artists were influencing me at the time - Walter Sickett, Edgar Degas, David Hockney, the Pre-Raphaelites, Mary Cassatt and the Old Masters have all featured heavily in my inspiration.
I look stern and quite frankly sinister in some of these portraits -I'm actually very approachable in real life!
I guess that's my 'painting face' - the searching eyes, fixed in concentration
I think my expression reveals the struggle the artist inevitably has, always pushing and pulling trying to get to the truth.
If you would like to commission a portrait please get in touch.
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