Tag: portrait

Ganache

The relationship between artist and subject/model goes back almost to mankind’s nascence. The advent of cell phones has made expectations veer off from a portrait’s purpose. This is especially true in regards to  the public’s expectations.

The ability now of anyone, at any given time to whip out their phone and make a movie or take photos makes the casual viewer come to expect a work of art to lean towards hyper realism.

This defeats the purpose of art, exact visual reportage down to the smallest skin pore and one might as well just snap a photo. Portraits allow for multi layers of enjoyment and contemplation. Done right and they can be revisited, offering up new things with each viewing.

It is a matter of choice for every artist, but personally I always want my pieces to look like the subject. A commonality is that for every artist the dynamic with the subject. It  is  as if the artist is describing the subject but instead of words, utilized are the technique and style (voice) of the artist. I describe you, but my words are my own.

With portraits, the likeness is captured but so are  psychological insights. Not only are the subject’s positioning and posing conjured up but present too are aspects of personality that do not come to the fore in photos unless blatantly apparent (i.e drunk, crying, laughing et al)

I always try to use subjects who are not professional models as I want the body language to be their own and not the expected or academic positioning. Ideally, subjects are people within my orbit, the added trust of knowing each other bolstering the organic conveyance of emotion, which is the ultimate goal for all my work.

 

Ganache 9×12 Watercolor & Multi Media Paper

ganache

 

 

by Wayne Wolfson

Pocket Pad

Have been busy with a bunch of larger projects (including getting next short story collection ready!) but that would never keep me from compulsively reaching for ever present pocket pad when out and about (nor hour or two of woodshedding every night)

Give me a scrap of paper and pencil nubbin and it is one of my greatest pleasures in life, serving the process.

3×5 per side

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by Wayne Wolfson

Boris Fishman

I have an ongoing Portrait Project. Music, gastronomy and literature are my main sources of inspiration.

By way of thanks, with their direct participation, I do portraits of artists from various mediums who I respect and enjoy.

Like my taste in music, it is a diverse list.

Boris Fishman is an author & journalist/essayist. He & painter Luc Tuysman are the first non-musicians to participate in the project so far.

With my portraits of other artists i do not seek to underscore what their work is about but rather the emotional truth of the moment of the artists.

 

More information on Boris:

http://borisfishman.com/

 

“Boris” 9×12 Graphite & Paper

 

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by Wayne Wolfson

Keith’s Hand

I had read how, for the most part artists do not retire. They do their thing, regardless of medium, as long as they can. I think this is because what gets one into the game initially is that it is a calling. After years of doing it, the process itself becomes a part of the artist.

Keith Richard’s hands show a life of service for the muse. They have become almost sculptural.
They are reminiscent now of the library of congress documentary photos of the first blues men and their hands.

In some ways it is full circle as in this respect, after over half a century, aspects of Keith now resemble those first blues men who were his childhood heroes and initial inspirations.

 

Keith’s Hand 9×12 graphite & Paper

 

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by Wayne Wolfson

Rache

“Serbia is the new Paris.”

“Every city wants to be, claims to be the new Paris.”

“It is very true of here.”

“Dance with me, it is one of things Serbian girls are best at.”

“Maybe we will have a drink later.”

The pen felt cool then hot as it rested in my breast pocket.

W.Wolfson’19

Rache 7×10 Watercolor & Cotton Paper

 

rache

by Wayne Wolfson

Pocket Pads

I always have a pocket pad on me, more often than not it is my Midori w/ customized paper. I compulsively try different brands and set ups/ style.

I do in general prefer the refillable ones. There is something about having same pad accompany me all over the world and grow increasingly familiar in touch and sight for me.

There are some great non refillable pads out there too. Within my diverse collection of pocket pads they all fall within the 3×5 size range.

One thing I like about mixing thing up pad wise is that although they all are the same size each company’s paper has different properties. My voice remains present but each type of paper adding something of its own property’s to the mix.

It is akin to a musician using different instruments for different types of songs (think for example, Miles Davis or Jimmy Page)

Here are some quick sketches done on pocket pad of company I just discovered.

 

 

by Wayne Wolfson

Black Eye

I had the pleasure semi-recently of seeing a fantastic show in Paris of Tintoretto at the Musée du Luxembourg.

His mannerist style emphasized emotion over perfect harmonious proportions which had been the de rigueur template for (early) Renaissance painters. Some of his self portraits are among my favorite paintings. He showed himself, warts and all so to speak.

In this social media-Instagram  age, everyone goes for presenting an idealized version of themselves in self portrait. Or a faux-playful imperfection such as the pretty girl with her tongue sticking out.

My mantra has always been that truth is beauty and that truth is always in service to emotion. Emotion being  my personal raison d’etre for all my work.

When I do a self portrait, i do not look to send a message via symbols or program but stick to my raw reportage. It is me, as I am which is real, which is interesting.

 

“Black Eye” 5.5 x 8.5 Watercolor & Paper

blackeye Continue reading “Black Eye”

by Wayne Wolfson

Patricia

One of her grandmother’s last wishes was that she get in shape. Although she liked her body as is, she agreed.

Photos are exacting in their detail so that the mind does not retain the memory of feelings and other acute emotional detail.

I was asked to document the body that she was leaving behind. No matter how much a portrait matches the subject, there is that component of space which we all fill in ourselves.

Capturing her with brush and pencil will keep her past vivid in memory and not merely a perfect reproduction from which all emotion has been freeze dried out.

Patricia 7×10 Watercolor & Cotton Paper

 

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by Wayne Wolfson

‘Nita

Emotion is a truth which is always beautiful.

Collecting art has become rarefied. Where as formerly passion and an eye (personal sense of aesthetics) were the main & most important prerequisites, they have been supplanted by space and money.

The size of my works is intentional. I have in mind new collectors for whom space is at a premium. Apartment dwellers should not feel it an impossibility to start a collection.
I also have in mind burgeoning collectors who are just starting to delve into the myriad genres of art out there. A large piece starts to dictate what directions a collection will go in for people living in normal sized spaces. Smaller works do not create a visual limitation.
I want the collector to live with my works and not (feel as if) under them which may occur in apartments.

Always is the striving for emotion to come across in my work(s) and this size bolsters it by almost creating a senses that one is witnessing a scene, the viewer as a voyeur.

” ‘Nita” 9×12 Watercolor & Cotton Paper (1st painting of ’19)

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by Wayne Wolfson