Thursday 9 July 2009

A plan

I've been planning a big self-portrait for some time, which has raised a lot of questions which needed resolving before I could move on. Not thinking about it for a long time seems to have settled things in my mind without my realising it.
Then, after doing the self portrait drawing, and just hanging around in my studio for some time, I found I had an image in my mind of myself, viewed from behind (I'm told I have a recognisable slouch), stood in front of a huge virgin canvas (of which there's one sitting unused in the studio), creating a silhouette effect. I have been drawn to artwork with strong contrasts of light, and I also like good use of negative space. This composition includes both elements. The question of my clothing is answered by wearing dark-neutrals, which I've worn for most of my life, until recently, but that's another story. The details will be hidden in the gloom, but they will be there - cluttered shelves, off-cut carpets on the floor.... There is also be a mirror to the right into which I'm peering but, because of the lighting, the reflection will also be mostly dark, except my brightly lit face, which I intend to be almost bleached out by the strong light-source. That may be an angle-poise light, with the bulb obscured by the angle, which is casting light on my face and the canvas alone.
The next step is to take some preparatory photographs, and play with the composition before I commit. But I think the sketch about sums up my thinking so far.

4 comments:

Melanie Rimmer said...

Sounds exciting. Is the work going to be as big as you show in your sketch? A 5-foot tall canvas?

Yellow said...

Yes, I've taken out the huge canvas I bought months ago and it's propped up in the studio, ready.

Melanie Rimmer said...

Wow. If a blank sheet of A4 paper is scary to start making marks on, how much more terrifying is a 5' canvas?

Yellow said...

Nah, piece of cake. What's difficult is when all the text on your pc shrinks so that you feel like Gulliver, and have no idea of how to fix it, and am trying to blog, by=ut are squinting at the screen, and hubby isn't back til Thursday , and you'll possibly go blind in the mean time. Stress!!!

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