The beginning of a ‘vintage’ portrait. The blue makes the skin color deeper and more interesting.Recently I was looking through a stack of old (and basement smelly) LIFE magazines from the 1950s. I have always enjoyed looking through magazines from this time period, I like the esthetics of the time - and what his me on this day, was all the advertisement pictures of women, some photos and some drawings. What they all had in common (except of course from haircuts and the kinds of dresses) was that they all showed some strong (and at times odd) emotion on their faces. Some were looking at you in an overly coy or shy posture, others were extremely excited - obviously happy to show their husbands - as these came tired home from work - how they had just saved a significant amount of money by buying a certain brand of ham.
Some (quite a few) had big surprised eyes and a round red mouth, clearly taken by surprise by something. I have to say I loved these pictures!
I cut out some of them to use for later use, and I am recently working on a series of small square portraits, inspired by the women in the old ads. They all measure 8” x 8”, and are half collage and half acrylic. These sizes was what I had in store at the time - and I actually like the small intimate images.
When I paint a portrait or just a human figure, I always start on a light blue background. The blue is nicer to work on than a white foundation, but it also makes the faces deeper, the blue can be sensed through the skin color.
I will make a new post with the finished piece.
