From the Artist: Some time back I was taken by Chuck Close's portraits and was inspired to try something similar of my own. Mine is a very simplified version done using one inch squares for a total of three hundred and twenty little paintings in one.
One of the main points for painting this was to demonstrate how very simplified a portrait can be and still resemble the subject. I chose to accent one eye for further development and to draw the viewer in to a focal point. I hoped to paint a portrait that is not only seen, but appears to *see* the viewer. What am I expressing?...one word: Intimacy. The face is oversized for an up close and personal view. I wanted the viewer nose to nose with the subject.
From the Painting Guide: It certainly is nose to nose, but with the strong overlaid grid, it feels to me like there's a barrier between the viewer and the painted person. (It would be easy to go to extremes of speculation here, about what kind of barrier it might be... something sinister such as reinforced glass in some sort of institution, or something innocuous such as insect netting?)
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Focal Point: The simple change of color on the grid over the one eye works really powerfully; it's impossible to look at this painting without being drawn into this square. To some extent it's emphasized because the eyes do strongly draw a viewer in any portrait and, here, the other one is partially hidden and much darker in tone.
One of the main points for painting this was to demonstrate how very simplified a portrait can be and still resemble the subject. I chose to accent one eye for further development and to draw the viewer in to a focal point. I hoped to paint a portrait that is not only seen, but appears to *see* the viewer. What am I expressing?...one word: Intimacy. The face is oversized for an up close and personal view. I wanted the viewer nose to nose with the subject.
From the Painting Guide: It certainly is nose to nose, but with the strong overlaid grid, it feels to me like there's a barrier between the viewer and the painted person. (It would be easy to go to extremes of speculation here, about what kind of barrier it might be... something sinister such as reinforced glass in some sort of institution, or something innocuous such as insect netting?)
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Focal Point: The simple change of color on the grid over the one eye works really powerfully; it's impossible to look at this painting without being drawn into this square. To some extent it's emphasized because the eyes do strongly draw a viewer in any portrait and, here, the other one is partially hidden and much darker in tone.