Self Portraits <
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Commissioning a portrait
Self Portrait.
12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas, Feb/March 2002
Available
La Costume.
130 x 97, oil on linen, Jan 2000-5
Private Collection, Santa Barbara
Man in a Suit.
150 x 200, oil on canvas, Dec 1999-
Work in Progress
Self Portrait.
24 x 33, oil on canvas, Dec 1998
Available
Painted for the 1999 BP Portrait Award, this self portrait was accepted and exhibited at
the National Portrait Gallery, London and
Aberdeen Art Gallery in Scotland. The cap was a very battered Adidas cap I had
brought back from Bali. Formally it's a very important element giving both a
frame to the face, a colour contrast to the predominant reds and oranges of
the painting, and a continuation with the background division, the head being
compressed into the lower quarter of the painting. The cap also offers a simple
solution to the formal problem presented by hair. The painting makes references
to both Chardin and Rembrandt who painted themselves in head gear something like this.
Cap,(self portrait)
76x65, oil on linen, Feb 1999
Available
A Study executed over a couple of hours this was a deliberate attempt to loosen up and deal with paint over and above representation. It was one of two studies painted in the same afternoon, this one being the more successful, not because it looked more like me, but because it came together as a three dimensional head, whilst being retaining the energy of the rapid, loaded brushstrokes. I find it very important to constantly adapt my approach , treating a particular painting in response to the demands of the subject, or simply as a means of breaking out of a set way of painting.
Reflection.
24x33, oil on linen, Dec 1998
Private collection, Japan
Painted rapidly last summer after having spent alot of time painting still life and landscape, this was something of an excersise in re-assurance. I spend alot more time over the winter working on portraits, partly because the weather is less reliable, but also because all the major portrait competitions in London, take place in the spring. This usually means at a certain point in late summer I start getting panicky. I also have to say that I love the challenge of painting figures, even if it's of me.
Head Study
oil on canvas, 24x33 cms, August 1999
Castile Galerie, Charlotte,NC.