I’ve been pushing lately to be more fluid, to paint faster and not to contemplate so much because I know this keeps the painting breathing, and alive more. I had been looking again at Toulouse Lautrec, mostly his paintings of the singers and dancers at the Moulin Rouge and absorbing the gestural brush work, the blocks of colors, the energy from the rapid execution he had most likely painted them with. I painted the woman right over an older piece that was just not doing anything for me. The figure is from a photograph that I always kept around because I loved not only the classical pose and the colors but her turn of the century feel, something I have a big addiction to.
I’m starting to have a sense of whats going on in this piece, there’s always a story and with more time it slowly starts to unravel and that’s the shining moment. As with most of my work, this painting is autobiographical, I am represented here by the woman who stares outward and away from the outer world that can give so much noise at times it impedes on my creative self. The demon like character on the right of her symbolizes the critical self. While creating this piece I experienced a great relief, like coming out of a period of a weary battle that had been clamping down on me for a long while.
Here are two of my favorite quotes by Vincent Van Gogh on color that so nail it!
“I want to paint men and women with that something of the external which the halo used to symbolize, and which we now seek to give by the actual radiance and vibrancy of our colorings.”
“…. instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use color more arbitrarily so as to express myself forcibly.”
Hey! Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy this amazing weather that hopefully will stick around for a while!
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Really interesting style. It reminds of Toulouse-Lautrec. The fluent strokes are definitely effective.
Thanks so much Curtis for your comment! I’m so happy you felt the fluidity! Much obliged!