At one point I went through a phase of trying to paint portraits of renowned explorers , mainly because I’ve always been fascinated by people with a keen sense of purpose & focus.
Lacking these traits entirely myself, I never finished any of these portraits.
Alexandra David-Néel, Ernest Shackleton (I think?) & ?? some guy
I’ve been messing around with these pencil drawings. Adding inks, watercolour and white acrylic. But I miss the grease and ooze of oils. Painting on paper just feels weird.
I’m leaning more and more towards abstraction. I suppose because there’s too much to say. Reading art history & criticism and realizing all the things people thought and still think art should do or represent is slightly appalling. Turning to the news and seeing thousands of images I don’t know how to respond to, from political wrangling to vast, terrifying human tragedies, is kind of numbing.
I suppose I could try to make art about the media age and oversaturation, but I’m pretty sure that’s what Lady Gaga said her song “Telephone” with Beyoncé was about so it’s okay, that’s been addressed. Girls got my back.
In the meantime, I am arranging colours and textures that might suggest a place or evoke an emotion, if you’re lucky, mister.
Acrylic on canvas, 16"x20".
My fixation on explorers may be wearing off. Still, this began as a fairly detailed portrait of a young Ernest Shackleton. But I’m really not comfortable with portraits – it feels rude, like staring directly into a stranger’s eyes for far too long. So I suppose I started pushing him back, under layers of hectic colour, til his face was almost completely abstracted.
Acrylic on canvas, 16"x20".
My love of explorers isn’t completely pure; it’s not a sincere admiration of their achievements. It’s really a fascination with the contrast between their near-superhuman accomplishments and their painfully ordinary weaknesses. Like Shackleton: hailed as an heroic leader for keeping his team going in horrible circumstances, but chose men to join his polar expeditions on the basis that he ‘liked the look of them’ rather than their technical skills. Set various records and was awarded a knighthood for his explorations, but was obsessed with money and attempted many unsuccessful business schemes, including a run of collectible Antarctic-themed postage stamps. Had a serious heart condition but repeatedly refused treatment, even getting into an argument with his doctor about changing his lifestyle minutes before suffering a fatal heart attack.
Another in the same vein. Knees are unfailingly interesting to draw.
Oil over acrylic. (BLASPHEMER!)
Update: Apparently this is where it went.
Mixed media (mostly acrylic) on card.
