Yes, thanks Clive. The ‘universality’ concept makes perfect sense. And I’ll look at your ‘Equus’ again to find Peter!
In painting someone’s portrait, the problem to me is always to try and see the universal without losing the particular, and vice-versa. I think Van Gogh achieves this in some of his portraits, Picasso too. And those wonderful ancient Roman faaces from the catacombs?
Natalie I think you’ve nailed the issue there. It’s a delicate balance. I don’t seem to be attracted to making portraiture myself. Peter’s face in Equus was more a question of expediency than portraiture… he didn’t sit and indeed didn’t know that I’d used him at all until after the event… but I greatly admire those that transcend the particular and capture the universal, which is probably slightly less freighted with the possibility of failure when working with models who will be unknown to the world at large. Another artist whose portraiture I admire greatly is Cedric Miorris, though it’s not without significance that apparently most of his sitters hated what he made of them.
Then there are those wonderful encaustic coffin portraits of Roman/Egyptian origin in the British Museum, one of which was a dead ringer for my friend the late Christopher Wren, a likeness that unnerved him slightly when I told him about it! Christopher, a choreographer, died in 1999. I look at that coffin portrait now and sometimes think it’s actually Chris, death having inextricably bound him and the encaustic likeness into one and the same. That’s art at its universal best!
Clive, this drawing is terrific and it’s especially interesting to be able to see its evolution. Absolutely doesn’t need colour – there’s so much variation in tone and texture. I love the monochrome.
A question: your saint and angel roles seem to be played always by the same ‘actor’, this particular close-cropped-hair boy. Is this a deliberate decision or does it just ‘happen’ by chance? I like the idea of having one visual character who can be put in various situations; I’m just wondering if you decided on this a long time ago?
Hello Natalie. Thanks for the vote of confidence on this one. I’m enjoying the process. It’s really evolving under its own steam. The drawing, in this case, is driving the artist.
Regarding the ‘actors’, I have a few models who I work with. I also have some friends whose likenesses… or aspects of their likeness… surface in my work, even though they don’t ‘sit’ for me. I endeavour to avoid specific portrayals of anyone, Peter being the notable exception. (He appears throughout the Old Stile Press edition of Equus, cast as the psychiatrist Dysart.) For the rest, I want the paintings and drawings to work on the level of being narratives to draw the viewers in, and the angels, saints and prophets are intended to have a ‘universal’ feel. I guess they’re a little like Keith Vaughan’s bullet-headed boys… though those are more abstract… because they ‘stand in’ for whatever we want them to be. Does that make sense?
Yes, thanks Clive. The ‘universality’ concept makes perfect sense. And I’ll look at your ‘Equus’ again to find Peter!
In painting someone’s portrait, the problem to me is always to try and see the universal without losing the particular, and vice-versa. I think Van Gogh achieves this in some of his portraits, Picasso too. And those wonderful ancient Roman faaces from the catacombs?
Natalie I think you’ve nailed the issue there. It’s a delicate balance. I don’t seem to be attracted to making portraiture myself. Peter’s face in Equus was more a question of expediency than portraiture… he didn’t sit and indeed didn’t know that I’d used him at all until after the event… but I greatly admire those that transcend the particular and capture the universal, which is probably slightly less freighted with the possibility of failure when working with models who will be unknown to the world at large. Another artist whose portraiture I admire greatly is Cedric Miorris, though it’s not without significance that apparently most of his sitters hated what he made of them.
Then there are those wonderful encaustic coffin portraits of Roman/Egyptian origin in the British Museum, one of which was a dead ringer for my friend the late Christopher Wren, a likeness that unnerved him slightly when I told him about it! Christopher, a choreographer, died in 1999. I look at that coffin portrait now and sometimes think it’s actually Chris, death having inextricably bound him and the encaustic likeness into one and the same. That’s art at its universal best!
Clive, this drawing is terrific and it’s especially interesting to be able to see its evolution. Absolutely doesn’t need colour – there’s so much variation in tone and texture. I love the monochrome.
A question: your saint and angel roles seem to be played always by the same ‘actor’, this particular close-cropped-hair boy. Is this a deliberate decision or does it just ‘happen’ by chance? I like the idea of having one visual character who can be put in various situations; I’m just wondering if you decided on this a long time ago?
Hello Natalie. Thanks for the vote of confidence on this one. I’m enjoying the process. It’s really evolving under its own steam. The drawing, in this case, is driving the artist.
Regarding the ‘actors’, I have a few models who I work with. I also have some friends whose likenesses… or aspects of their likeness… surface in my work, even though they don’t ‘sit’ for me. I endeavour to avoid specific portrayals of anyone, Peter being the notable exception. (He appears throughout the Old Stile Press edition of Equus, cast as the psychiatrist Dysart.) For the rest, I want the paintings and drawings to work on the level of being narratives to draw the viewers in, and the angels, saints and prophets are intended to have a ‘universal’ feel. I guess they’re a little like Keith Vaughan’s bullet-headed boys… though those are more abstract… because they ‘stand in’ for whatever we want them to be. Does that make sense?
it’s amazing, clive! you are outdoing yourself! (don’t worry, i knocked on wood
)
Thank you Zoe. Yes, please keep knocking on wood!