The End of My Portrait Spree

I went through my parent’s photo collection and painted a number of family portraits, the two below being the last ones.  I was drawn to the light in the images and the expressions.  I like that people were relaxed.  Looking through family photos allowed me to see interesting moments and a lot of moments that I did not remember or had not experienced.

I think I’m at the end of my portrait spree for now and the use of my parent’s photo collection.  I will have to see where inspiration takes me next.

“In Shadow” 2020

“Happy Moment” 2019

 

Looking at Art

 

One of the great things about where I’m living is how close it is to DC and DC’s museums.  I’ve been making a habit of visiting the National Gallery and the Smithsonian.  Additionally I’ve been doing some reading on art history.  Mostly, about the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.

The National Gallery had exhibits on photography and on pastel drawing.  The photos displayed were a little later then the daguerrotype, discovered in 1939.  They were on paper, instead of silver plates.  It’s still fun to see all those people in bowler hats and the landscapes that photographers were drawn to.  Also interesting to note that several photographers in the show were painters.

The pastels displayed from the end of the 19th century (and a few from the 20th century) and some of the paintings from the museums permanent collection were fun to look at too.  And Degas and Manet create such engaging subjects.  I’m assuming they used photography.  And of course it was fun to see the museum’s permanent collection as well.

I’m not sure how all of this is influencing my art except to say I feel less guilty about using so many photos.  I think I will be sticking with portraiture for awhile.