Development of my portrait and plans for the future

1. Portrait Project
Gemma Jackson

2. Initial sources - The National Portrait
Gallery and The National Gallery
• Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830)
Portrait of Lieutenant General the Hon. Charles Stewart, later 3rd
Marquess of Londonderry (1778-1854), 1814
Oil on canvas
• Whilst at the The National Gallery I did a rough drawing of 'Portrait of
Lieutenant General the Hon. Charles Stewart, later 3rd Marquess of
Londonderry' using fine liner. I decided to make a study of this painting
as the subjects regal pose gives him power and importance. I was
intrigued with the way the painter gave the subject his power not only by
his pose but also the use of noble colours, red and gold. the red and gold
are set of from the dark murky background making him seem like a
shining hero. The painter has used oil paints in order to create an
extremely life like interpretation of his subject that is very true to the
original person.
• BP Portrait Award: Next Generation Painting by Ellen Mitchell
• Due to the subject being on the left side of the painting our eyes are
drawn straight to her, the subject is also made to stand out by the large
contact between the well lit figure and dark plain background. The
painting was painted in oil paints in order to create strong abstract brush
marks, these brush strokes give movement to the painting. The artist has
also used exaggerated colours. These animated brush strokes and
colours contrast with the figure whom appears to be stoic and lifeless.
This lifelessness is created mainly by the dark shows of the face
specifically under her cheek bone giving her a skinny, worn face as well
as the darkness in and around her eyes. This portrait appears to be
inspired by the impressionist movement. This can be seen in the
rapid brush marks that are broken into separate dabs that are similar to
that in impressionist paintings. These rapid brushstrokes were due to
painters no longer painting in studios but in the open air (en plain
air), capturing there subjects quickly and in the moment. This resulted in
a considerable awareness of light and colour and the shifting pattern of
the natural scene.

3. Experiments and Decisions
• I have decided to do my portrait in the style of Ellen Mitchell's BP
Portrait Award: Next Generation Painting as I am very interested in
the impressionist style she uses and the life and movement it gives
her painting. In order to create this effect I will be using a pallet
knife with acrylic paint to create texture and bold strokes of colour.
• 1) In my first sketch I thought about using the whole scenery and
fully showing the mirror to in the painting. This is inspired by the
two paintings I saw t the BP exhibition, one of which showing a
reflection in a phone and the other showing a women's reflection in
her dressing table mirror. I thought both of these portrayed an
interesting story in using reflections and interesting backgrounds
going on around the person. However although this shows
personality due to the size of the painting, A4-A3, and the
materials I am using it would be hard to create detail in the
portrait.
• 2) In my second sketch I zoomed into the scene so that the mirror
and object around the mirror would still be visible but so that
details would be easier to paint. I also thought about having in so
my face was looking down as it would be when I'm drawing. This
would give emphasis to the story of the portrait being painted.
• 3) I also thought about painting even further zoomed in so that i
could really focus on painting the face, using interesting colours
and mark making. However this doesn't fit the brief as well as it
doesn't portray my personality or hobbies as well.
• Therefore i have decided to paint my portrait similar to my second
sketch, although i will paint my face facing the mirror so that i can
really work on emphasising colours rather than painting a different
interesting angle.

4. Final Outcome
In this project I learnt about new methods of mark making using a pallet
knife, including creating bold individual marks of colour overlaying in each
other creating texture and allowing my to mix colours on the page. In my
visits to the National and National Portrait Gallery's I was very interested
in the ways the portraits told a story, specifically in the portraits that used
reflections, and attempted to incorporate this into my final outcome.
Although I feel as though I have created a sense of a story if I were to do
the project again I would have decided to paint just my face and uses
expressions and angles in order to tell the story rather than surrounding
objects. This would have allowed me to express more mark making due
to the larger face size, I would use longer more linear lines similar to my
study of Ellen Mitchell's painting rather than small circular dabs of the
pallet knife.

5. Plans for the future
• Over this year I have decided that I
would like to study illustration in my
further education. In order to achieve
this I am to continue to work on my
drawing skills as well as
experimenting using different
materials, specifically looking into
digital art using programs such as
Illustrator and Photoshop. I also aim
to start developing an individual
artistic style by looking at others work
and continuing to draw and
experiment with different styles. I will
also be doing this in my EPQ in which
I hope to create a mini comic. In
second year I will also try to work on
my time management skills as I tend
to get court up on cirtain aspects of
the project leading me to rush others.