Tag: male

Naif  (Mixed media)

Come to think of it, I’ve done a few in this vein. 

This was an oil painting, but I don’t have a decent photograph of it in its original state. 

This one… well, the kid who modelled is naturally thin but he looks positively emaciated in this painting. I have to take responsibility for that, for exaggerating the tones and manipulating the topography. I just like the way strong light plays on the contours of the human figure and there are generally more interesting shadows to be cast by bones slithering around just under the skin. I know some people find this kind of thing disturbing, and I’d think it most unfortunate if this upsets anyone. It’s never about glamourising thinness, or promoting an ideal of beauty. I’m not interested in social commentary. I do think thin figures communicate a sense of longing, of deficiency – a bony figure in an awkward pose just somehow broadcasts need. See Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Mikhail Vrubel, Harry Clarke, El Greco and Blue Picasso for precedents. So I wasn’t aiming for much more with this painting than a little emotional resonance and a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere. 

Originally 4 feet by 2 feet, oil & mixed media on board. The skin was acid green and I unexpectedly pioneered a possibly groundbreaking texturing technique when a cloud of mayflies got embedded in the surface when I took the piece outside to varnish it. What you see here is the edited version, manipulated in Photoshop CS2.