Today is the last day of Summer in Australia but reality seems to be parting ways with our old Roman calendar with today’s temperature approaching 40 degrees Celsius in the Perth Hills. Nevertheless it’s a way of marking time and impressing on me how fast time has passed lately!
Progress has been slow on The Beer Belly Tree despite the errant air-conditioner being fixed. I did however complete a commission for a father and baby daughter portrait. It was the first time I’ve done a portrait of people I’ve never met and I found it unsettling to attempt to bring humans to life from a small photograph. Happily the commissioner was very happy with the result – phew!
Father and Daughter – By Helen Lock
Maybe I’ll have more projects reach fruition during Autumn and enjoy taking in my harvest. I think I need to take heed of this pearl of wisdom from Pablo Picasso:
“All human beings are born with the same creative potential. Most people squander theirs away on a million superfluous things. I expend mine on one thing and one thing only: my art.”
Pablo Picasso
🙂
Helen
I agree with Jaffer in terms of a gap in the market and how good the portrait is, however your wider range of work bring me a lot of pleasure and I am sure it will to a host of others over time.
Like earlier work in this style (Alex and Harvey, dogs and this humble being etc.) I think the talent is there for all to see.
I also look forward to the “beer belly”taking form and to the next post :-)xx
Thank you DO. Your support is invaluable. :)oxo
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2014 05:28:07 +0000 To: Helen.Lock@live.com.au
Leo and I were lucky enough to see this original artwork last weekend, it is a beautiful rendering and was a very true likeness of the photograph. Sickert painted from photos, a lot of artists do… but there is a discernable difference I think, from portraits that are from ‘life’. Lovely subject to, one can’t help thinking of Alex and Harvey : )
Louise, Thank you for taking the time to comment and for your kind words.
I agree there is a discernible difference between paintings / drawings from life and those from photos. Some ‘life’ gets lost in a photo, images distort, shadows are too dark, and highlights bleached, so it is a challenge to try to bring a photo back to life. How much better if a sitter could hold a beautiful moment in time for many hours to allow a careful rendering! Since that is unlikely using a combination of sketches from life, photos and memories is probably my best option. 🙂
Excellent portrait Helen – love it! Perhaps, this is the art side you should concentrate on. I think there is a gap in the market.
Thank you very much for your comment and encouragement Jaffer. 🙂