My current work is a bit stuck with “Covid masks”. I have been going through my old work and have found two ways partly seen or obscured faces have been a recurring theme. Firstly I looked at old pencil fantasy drawings-
The following still makes me shudder as I remember when I did it!
Twenty years or so ago I was doing a lot of paintings from photos I took on my visits to India. I was taken to villages where children were frightened of my appearance. The following is a pastel study-
Another pastel-
I did many photos of people waiting around for clinics to open. Engrossed in their own thoughts or having private conversations.
Faces can disappear into shadows.
This was one of my first large India paintings-
I used photos that were clear originally and put them into shadows for compositional effect.
A man and his rickshaw make a single object.
I finish with this study of partly made clay statues being prepared for a religious festival. I found this image rather disturbing.
Note the acrylic paint overdrawn with black ink.
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