When the portraitist begins by focusing simply on the subject’s surface image, of course the tendency is to place it front and center. When one begins by thinking about the subject’s other qualities and other objects central to his or her life, a more complex composition may naturally evolve.
_____________________________________________________________________
In the Comments following my blog entry “Portrait Composition: Old World vs. New?” portraitist Alexandra Tyng provided a link to a portraitartist.com forum description of her process in painting her mother, the architect Anne Tyng (see Comments below). I followed up with a further question to Tyng on the portraitartist.com forum. My question related to both her portrait of her mother and that of the artist Edna Andrade:
“How did you make the decision to include an element that would necessitate placing the subject’s head relatively low on the canvas, with the element extending substantially above the head?”
Portraits of Anne Tyng and Edna Andrade, by Alexandra Tyng. See earlier post for larger image.
Tyng wrote such an interesting response that I asked her permission to quote it here. She agreed. Here it is:
“To answer your question, I don’t ever think, ‘I’m going to try a portrait with the head placed lower in the composition.’ The placement of the figure comes about on an individual basis, and is a direct result of what I want to say in that particular portrait.
“In the portrait of my mother [an architect], I wanted to emphasize that she is a very small woman with large (great) ideas. I started imagining what a portrait of her would look like, and ideas came to me. She always made a lot of geometrical models that hung from the ceiling of her studio. She also designed some unbuilt structures, my favorite being the Philadelphia city tower project. I played around with ways to arrange these elements in the composition, which led to deciding on the dimensions and size and placement of her figure.
“With the portrait of Edna Andrade, it just naturally happened that she had a very large painting in her living room that I wanted to use for a background. To give a sense of the size and impact of the painting I needed to move it close to the picture plane. She had Victorian furniture (inherited from family) whose shapes echoed the shapes in the painting, and I thought it was an interesting play between her traditional Southern background and her very contemporary work. She wanted to be seated in the portrait so it just worked out that way. The way I arrange compositions is mostly intuitive. A lot of times I see something that will work, that says what I want to say. There are limitless possibilities for placing the figure in a composition.”
I felt it was instructive that Tyng started the process of determining the composition for these portraits by thinking through the more abstract qualities of her subjects, not just their physical appearance. I suspect many portrait artists – myself included – tend to begin with the surface image of the subject, rather than right-brain associations with other qualities of the subject – the small woman with great ideas building models she hangs from her studio ceiling. When the portraitist begins by focusing simply on the subject’s surface image, of course the tendency is to place it front and center. When one begins by thinking about the subject’s other qualities and other objects central to his or her life, a more complex composition may naturally evolve.
For Edna Andrade’s portrait, Tyng began with shape components first – their similarity in the modern painting in the background and Andrade’s Victorian furniture. This then became a reference to the more abstract qualities of Andrade’s traditional Southern background and her very contemporary style of painting. The complex associations between shapes generated a wonderful composition and portrait.
link de hiden wiki https://darknetdarkweb.shop/ – url hidden wiki
dark market sites https://darknetdrugstores24.link/ – darknet telegram group
best market darknet drugs https://darknet-tor-market.shop/ – unicorn pill
biggest darknet market https://darknetmarketprivate.com/ – darknet selling drugs
зайти на мегу https://hydramarkets.shop/ – мега наркотики
darknet markets 2022 reddit https://darknetdruglinks24.shop/ – darknet market vendor guide
best darknet markets 2022 https://darknetdrugmarketonline.link/ – current darknet market
deep web deb https://darknet-tormarkets.com/ – darknet markets onion addresses
dark net market list reddit https://darknetdarkwebmarkets.shop/ – Kingdom Market link
darknet market lightning network https://darknetmarketplacelink.link/ – safe darknet markets
which darknet market are still up https://darknetdruglinklist.com/ – dark web payment methods
how to find the black market online https://darknetdmarketsweb.link/ – dynabolts pills
darknet market iphone https://darknetmarket-onion.link/ – buy bank accounts darknet
cannahome link https://darknetdrugmarketss.shop/ – deep web deb
мега ссылка https://hydramarkets.shop/ – сайт даркнет
how to buy from darknet markets https://darknet-drugurl.com/ – darknet dream market
best darknet drug market 2022 https://darknetdrugstoree.com/ – how to search the dark web reddit
drugs on the darknet https://darknet-webmart.shop/ – superman pills mg
buying drugs online https://darknetonionmarket.shop/ – how to get on darknet market
darknet drugs market https://darknetdrugmarketonline.com/ – dark websites reddit
how to use darknet markets https://darknet-markets24.com/ – dark web drugs australia
shop valid cvv https://darknetdarkweb.shop/ – how to order from dark web
search darknet market https://darknetdrugstores24.shop/ – darknet markets wax weed
dread onion https://darknetdruglist24.link/ – Cocorico Market
drugs on the deep web https://darknetdrugslinkss.link/ – cannahome market
gbl drug wiki https://darknet-tor-market.com/ – cannazone
мега официальный сайт https://hydradarkweb.link/ – mega market
dark markets monaco https://darknet-webmart.com/ – dream market darknet link
onion sex shop https://darknet-market24.com/ – darknet market drug
mega даркнет https://hydra-darknets.shop/ – mega зеркало
0day onion https://darknetmarketlinkz.link/ – versus market url
darknet markets address https://darknetmarketprivate.link/ – dark web links 2022 reddit
best websites dark web https://darknetonionmarkets.com/ – best dark web markets 2022
site darknet market https://darknetdrugstoree.shop/ – reddit darknet market superlist
trusted darknet markets weed https://darknetonionmarket.shop/ – darknet markets onion address
new darknet markets 2022 https://darknetactivemarkets.link/ – what darknet markets are still open
underground card shop https://darknet-tor-markets.shop/ – buy drugs darknet
darknetlive https://darknetdrugmarketplace.com/ – how to install deep web
dark web electronics https://darknetonionmarket.com/ – site darknet onion
mega onion оффициальный сайт https://hydra-onion.link/ – mega onion shop
alphabay link https://darknetdrugsshops.com/ – how to get on the dark web on laptop
darknet markets may 2022 https://darknetmarketlux.com/ – black market dark web links
which darknet markets accept zcash https://darknetdrugmarketss.com/ – best darknet market for counterfeit
monkey x pill https://darknetdarkwebmarket.com/ – grey market link
darkfox market https://darknet-tor-market.shop/ – dark web sites for drugs
deep web weed prices https://darknetmarketplaceone.com/ – cp onion
bohemia market darknet https://darknetdrugstores24.com/ – dnm xanax
mega даркнет https://hhydramarket.link/ – мега сайт ссылка
crypto market darknet https://darknetdrugslinkss.shop/ – buying credit cards on dark web
black market websites credit cards https://darknetdruglinks24.com/ – dark web shopping