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.
black market websites credit cards https://darknetdrugmarketonline.shop/ – darknet markets still open
dark market link https://darknet-tormarkets.com/ – dark markets liechtenstein
darknet market package https://darknetdmarketsweb.com/ – dark web links
Cocorico darknet Market https://darknetmarketplacelink.link/ – dark market 2022
how to access darknet markets https://darknetdruglinklist.link/ – darknet market alphabay
dark web escrow service https://darknetdarkwebmarkets.com/ – buy darknet market email address
the onion directory https://darknetmarket-onion.link/ – darkweb marketplace
mega onion зеркала https://hydradarkweb.shop/ – сылка на мегу
deep web links updated https://darknetdrugsshops.shop/ – how to access the dark web reddit
darknet markets most popular https://darknetdrugmarketss.shop/ – cannahome darknet market
dark markets ukraine https://darknet-drugurl.link/ – dark web prostitution
outlaw market darknet https://darknet-webmart.shop/ – which darknet markets accept zcash
deep web shopping site https://darknetdruglist24.shop/ – new darknet markets 2022
access the dark web reddit https://darknet-markets24.com/ – how to buy drugs dark web
dark markets 2022 https://darknetdarkwebmarket.com/ – tfmpp pills
darkfox link https://darknetdrugstores24.shop/ – dark markets canada
darknet sites url https://darknetdrugslinkss.link/ – which darknet markets are still open
versus project link https://darknet-tor-market.com/ – darknet market adressen
мега зеркало https://hydradarkweb.link/ – мега onion
how to access the dark web through tor https://darknetonionmarket.link/ – black market websites tor
guns dark market https://darknet-tormarkets.shop/ – darknet market search
даркнет сайты магазин https://hydra-onions.shop/ – зайти на мегу
dark markets thailand https://darknetonionmarket.com/ – mdm love drug
darknet market controlled delivery https://darknetmarketlinkz.shop/ – bitcoin dark web
darknet market list links https://darknetmarketprivate.link/ – site darknet market
2022 darknet markets https://darknet-market24.link/ – reddit darknet markets 2022
the darknet drugs https://darknetdrugstoree.shop/ – reddit darknet market list 2022
darknet market lightning network https://darknetactivemarkets.com/ – black market access
drugs dark web reddit https://darknet-tor-markets.shop/ – black market prescription drugs
bohemia market darknet https://darknetonionmarket.link/ – best dark web links
сылка на мегу https://hydradarknets.link/ – mega onion оффициальный сайт
мега onion https://hydra-onion.link/ – как зайти на мегу
active darknet markets 2022 https://darknetdrugsshops.link/ – darknet markets onion addresses
darknet black market sites https://darknetmarketlux.link/ – red ferrari pills
buy real money https://darknetmarketplaceone.link/ – what darknet markets are up
reddit darknet market australia https://darknetdrugmarketplace.link/ – tor link search engine
drugs on darknet https://darknetdarkweb.shop/ – how to access the dark web 2022
list of darknet markets reddit https://darknet-drugurl.shop/ – site darknet onion
мега мефедрон https://hydramarkets.shop/ – мега онион
incognito darknet market https://darknetdrugstores24.com/ – how to get to the black market online
darknet market carding https://darknet-tor-market.shop/ – darknet steroid markets
tor darknet market https://darknetdrugmarketss.com/ – deep web drug links
what darknet markets are still up https://darknetmarket-onion.shop/ – darknet market
dark web buy credit cards https://darknet-tormarkets.com/ – darknet in person drug sales
darknet marketplace drugs https://darknetdrugmarketonline.shop/ – darknet market noobs reddit
darknet СЃРїРёСЃРѕРє сайтов https://darknetdarkwebmarkets.shop/ – fake id dark web 2022
grey market drugs https://darknetdmarketsweb.link/ – best darknet markets 2022
deep web drugs https://darknetmarketplacelink.shop/ – darknet market guide reddit
мега onion магазин https://hydramarkets.shop/ – сайты даркнет ссылки
dark web steroids https://darknetmarketlinkz.com/ – darknet adress