I Will Paint You | Episode 1 | The Painting.
Sometimes I’m good. Sometimes I’m lucky. This was a little bit of both.
When I first started my drawing project, I never thought it was going to lead me to a painting. At around drawing number five, it became evident that these illustrations were studies of facial expressions. How a subtle curve of a lip or a turn of a brow can clearly convey human emotion, visual cues that we are all instinctively programmed to interpret.
I wanted to create paintings that celebrated the beauty of a person’s unique features. I also wanted to explore the notion of creating balance in a chaotic composition. Thus in my Duets Series, I strive to create visual harmony between two subjects that have seemingly opposite attributes.
SIZE 2015
Oil and acrylic on wood | 27″ x 24″
Robert and Steven are probably my favorite illustrations so far. They both have such great faces and to pair them together was obvious. The two images have notable contrasting elements. Big features on a small face. Small features on a big face. Robert seems so bright with his joy that he wants to punch you with it. There is a timid reserve to Steven’s face, which conveys cautious panic. I married them in a painting to temper the two extremes and find an equilibrium somewhere in the middle.
I’m a writer living in Los Angeles, making emojis of faces I find on Instagram. When I get a moment, I paint portraits on canvases I build from reclaimed wood.
