Evaluation

The research through my sketch book lead me to produce my final piece on the elder generation. I chose to paint someone with character and with skin that looks worn and experienced. I was inspired by many artists which linked and connected to one and other in many different way, I decided to paint my portrait in the style of Colin Davidson as he was my favourite artist, not only because of his style and technique but because of the material he chose to paint on. I used a large piece of calico for my portrait. I painted with a similar technique and colour palette to that of Colin Davidson and Piet Van Den Boog, using a flat brush to layer different tones to blend.

I chose to paint on calico instead of paper or board because of the texture which is created. As I progressed through the artist research I became particularly attracted to the texture produced by the work. When the layers of paint are dried on the fabric the surface draws in the viewer and not only make the portrait something you appreciate visually but also through touch. 

I'm happy with the way my final portrait has turn out. I think I was successful in capturing the expression of the face, I like the way I painted the hair by layering the individual strokes for each strand. I'm glad I decided to use a larger scale for my portrait although it did make the process longer and harder when it came to visualising the final outcome. While I like the detail created by painting the hair in this style, if I were to criticised my own work I think the technique does not fit in with the way I've painting the face. If I were to start again I may have also considered using a lighter less "pink" colour palette, similar to artists such as Karsten Thormaehlen and Richard Geraint.

As my initial idea was to do a holiday time line, I lost time researching into artists which weren't really relevant to my final project theme. Although all the artists I researched link to one and other I think my strongest area within the project is painting, therefore it would have made  more sense looking into artists who paint. I think I could of managed my time better by considering artists which related more closely to my project brief, for example Esra Roise does not do any studies of old people and is a more of a  fashion, illustration artist. However the artists I researched do show a varied range or material and techniques which ultimately lead to my final outcomes. 

I was influenced by all the artists I researched in many different ways, starting with Richard Geraint Evans, he inspired me to look at the human face in different ways, from different angles and capturing a varied range of expressions. Followed by Mark Stewart, the artist who first motivated me to consider older, more wrinkled faces through his magnificent pencil drawings. I particularly enjoyed drawing the more mature faces as they have more detail and depth. I was then lead to look at different ways of painting textured skin. Piet Van Den Boog and Karsten Thormaehlen were two very contrasting portrait artists, one using dark tones and thick layers of paint and the other a photographer capturing a life like double, I was inspired to paint  the delicate faces with a more harsh, thick layer of darker paint. Ed Fairburn was the beginning to my experimentation with different backgrounds and surfaces, inspiring me to look at texture and not just the visual appearance of the final outcome.