THE PROGRESS OF A PORTRAIT
As part of the exhibition Portraits (Part 1) at my wonderful studio Artists Workhouse, I painted a new self portrait to display alongside a similar painting I had finished in early 2016 - now being shown as a duo of portraits that show the difference in my state of mind and self-confidence over a year. I took the opportunity to record the progress of my own work and took photographs at regular intervals over several weeks, capturing the different stages of how the painting came together. The images were taken mainly for my own use, but I feel they give an interesting extra perspective to the work to see how it took shape over time, and when it started to feel alive. Personally, I found that the addition of the light reflections into the eyes was the moment when I could visualise the finished painting in my mind, and could begin to really see myself in the portrait.
See both finished paintings here, or at the Artists Workhouse until 12 March.
