☰
Acrylic paint on 4 sheets of 18x24 plexiglass and one sheet with a giclee on fabric. Date: October 2017.
The subject of this portrait is Rachel Arron, an artist in Ogdon, Utah. When I saw this image of her on Facebook I knew I wanted to paint it. I messaged her and explained that I was an artist in Florida and I would like to paint the image of her. She gave the OK and I told her I'd get back with her once I finished a couple of paintings. I wasn't sure how I was going to approach the portrait, but I knew it had great potential.
Things started falling into place when I read that the Orlando Museum of Art was going to have a juried art competition titled "The Art of the Selfie". The instructions included this: "How do you interpret Selfies in the modern day world and how does this relate to past art masterpieces?"
So I had myself a Selfie. Now how can I get it to relate to a past masterpiece?
Pablo Picasso painted one of his masterpieces "Girl before a Mirror" in 1932. His painting of a woman gazing into a mirror seemed to be a perfect foil for my beautiful Facebook Diva.
The Selfie as a modern day mirror.
I was able to create a composition that works the women in Picasso's painting in with my portrait of Rachel. I used the tattoos as a convient transition point by bump up the colors in the tattoos. The composition relies heavily on balancing the movement of color. Reds, yellows, and greens all form tidy triangles within the overall composition. The yellow iPhone focus box was placed as a strong design element to balance the faces of the two woman in the painting. This painting is one of the more complex compositions that I have attempted.
What an honor to receive the 'Best of Show' award in the Orlando Museum of Art Juried Exhibition "The art of the selfie".
It was a glorious evening at the Orlando Museum of Art. The lovely Loleita and I spent a cold evening with some of my very warm and talented Orlando friends. Thanks for all the support and encouragement you have given me Lillian Verkins, Lisa Lisa Serendipity, Ronda Richley, Vickie Wilson Wilson, and Linda Saracino. Also had a popup visit from an old and dear friend Ken Anderson and his lovely wife Lan. Great to see Jeff Shonkwiler again and hope to share more of these monthly events with him in the future. Also got to spend some time with Orlando artist Josiane Barthe Pinkcombe and her fun husband.
I also want to thank Peter A Cerreta for the input he gave me when I was creating this painting. Peter, I really appreciate your direct and laser focused critique. It helped a lot.
