As we age and journey through life, our faces slowly begin to accumulate what I might call the ‘etchings of time’. All of those wrinkles, folds, creases and crevices lend credence to experiences borne by the individual. Personally, depicting age and wrinkle lines on a face is challenging and it is with some measure of trepidation that I undertook to work on these, one of an indigenous person and the other of my grandmother.
Both were painted from photographs.
The indigenous person, I remember finding the photo on a travel website. I liked the grace, poise and the untold stories in the individuals face and decided to paint it… I photographed my grandmother a couple of weeks back with the resolve that if I did manage to pull off a good one, maybe I will try and paint it.
See, some painting for a change and no questions…
Title: ‘Tangata whenua’; Size: 4 feet high X 3 feet wide; Medium: Oil on canvas
Title: ‘Sandhya Ragam’; Size: 2.5 feet high X 2 feet wide; Medium: Oil on canvas
Sunil,
This is eerie. Your post brings last night’s dream to my consciousness:
I browsed through a book showing b&w photos of men with highly wrinkled faces and the faces were so lovable and intelligent!
Sunil,
Your style works well with both the relative complexity of the Maori(?) man and the simplicity of your grandmother. I can’t remember if you said much before about your heavy use of red and yellow, except that I think you find it lends dignity. Can you say more about why these colors are so dominant? Is there a reason related to Indian culture? One thing it’s doing for me today is suggesting that the figures are illuminated by torchlight or a campfire, which makes it feel like a somewhat intimate setting.
Steve,
Thanks for your comments.
I am really never quite sure why I use so much red and yellow in the depiction of contrasts.. I guess Indian influences have a large say on my painting (having spent all of my youth in India).
India is a land that is suffused with colors and people are not really shy about wearing their red shirts and orange scarves and purple loafers nonchalantly through the street. The colors on Indian women decked out in gold jewellery and resplendent saris are a sight to behold. The dark earth and the effects of the monsoons on muddy rivers further adds to the spectacle of colors that one sees when they go back to India. I guess some of this tends to live on in dispositional states in our minds and lends itself to my painting…
I also know that some of the colors used can be jarring and not cool, but I seem to prefer it this way…
Sunil,
I love both faces and the colors are so rich and vibrant. For me it’s like looking into the soul, a rare privilidge indeed. The colors to me represent life…love…energy…like I said Vibrant. In this culture we seem to disregard that older people, people with wrinkles can be vibrant and alive. I very much like the contrast and statement. Thank you.
I am glad that Evening Melody leads a happy old-age life.
Sunil,
I like the painting of your grandmother a lot. There is vitality in her eyes. I feel that she could glance at me any moment.
The painting of the man is somewhat less personal, somewhat more like a photo and less like a Sunil painting. It leaves less to the imagination than some of your other pictures. Also, the colors are not as rich — but I suspect this is the photo, not the painting.
I do like the Maori in the first picture.
Have you watched the movie Whale Rider?
Ginger,
I am happy you enjoyed the paintings…
Birgit,
I would want Evening Melody to enjoy a lot more sunrises and tomorrows…
Karl,
I wanted the Maori to convey an aspect of brooding sentimentality. The lines on his face with the wrinkled and leathered skin added to these dimensions.
No this is not one of my ‘usual’ types… I guess.
I find the actual painting a lot more powerful that the two-bit photo that I have posted here though… Sometimes when I go down to the basement to work on some new pieces, I find myself arranging some of the ‘faces’ around so that they can have a dialogue with each other and I find that I cannot seem to put anyone next to the Maori…
Birgit,
No, I have not seen Whale Rider, but I just checked it out on Google and I do plan on watching it… Thank you.
Sunil,
THese are my favorite paintings of yours I have seen so far, especially the first one. THey seem personal and the style seems well integrated with the subject matter, instead of applied on top of them. Your colors always remind me of brain scans showing where the activity is. Although when you connect it to India that makes a lot of sense too.
They seem personal and the style seems well integrated with the subject matter, instead of applied on top of them.
Was this the inspiration for Steve’s cooking post, I wonder?
Sunil, I’ll look at the first painting some more, given what Leslie says. Maybe I commented too quickly.
Leslie,
I must remember the analogy between brain scans and the application of my paints on the canvas. Even though I make no effort to connect the two, it is funny that you make that connection. I am glad you liked the poise in the paintings. Like you, personally I liked the Maori better…
Brain scans and painting bring to mind a painting posted by Richard Rothstein sometime in January. That was an abstract representation of an MRI if I remember right… That was one of my favorite paintings I had seen posted on A&P in a while. I also remember reading an interesting story that went with it… Can’t seem to get to the link now for some reason…
Karl,
I know you had an idea some time back for a feature on A&P where if you clicked on a persons name, it could lead to all of the posts by that person on A&P. I was wondering how difficult that would be…
Karl,
I have a funny feeling that Steve got his mustard and ketchup idea from here…
I would be interested in some more critical views on the Maori painting… Feedback always helps…