Another day in the studio:
I love painting patterns and they often find their way into my portraits in the clothing worn by the subject. I’ve started on the broken paisley pattern in the shirt of Nicky’s portrait. Here is a close up detail of the first start of the pattern. I don’t think I’m going to do too much to it, I kind of like that it is implied and isn’t too clean and in focus. I’ll add a bit more detail and some highlights here and there, but not much more.
I’ve also worked more on the green top in my self-portrait. I’m trying to get the richness of the green silk fabric in, as I really love this colour, both of the actual shirt and of the oil paint. The beautiful jewel-tone colour reminds me of the lush fabrics in old oil paintings. It especially reminds me of the green in the background of Hans Holbein’s famous painting, The Ambassadors, as well as the fabric of the woman’s dress in Jan Van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait, both of which I’ve seen and in stood in awe of at The National Gallery in London, UK.
Oh, how I miss The National Gallery!! It was just down the street from Central Saint Martins, so I used to visit it often during breaks from painting in my studio.