Claire Golby
Level 5
Dramatic Contexts
Schneider, R. p92 (1994) The Art of The Portrait. Koln: Benedikt Taschen Verlag
Again, this image would require an older model to recreate, and one who is comfortable with semi nudity. I would also have to consider body makeup and definitely take care of any body hair. I really like the different colours in the beard and I think the postiche work for this portrait would be interesting to texture and style. This painting would also involve some ageing work (if the model wasn’t the right age) and definitely eye bag prosthetics. I think, however, that the face isn’t enough of a focal point in this image for me to want to recreate it. I’d like a face with more defining character as well.
Schneider, R. p92 (1994) The Art of The Portrait. Koln: Benedikt Taschen Verlag, p134, 135
I like this coloured image; I think with digital editing this would be interesting painting to reproduce with the different angles and would showcase the makeup well from all sides. The painting was accompanied by this black and grey portrait (which I can’t reproduce because of this), but it shows in more detail the key features of the subject. He has quite an interesting crooked nose and i think his sunken eye bags would make for good prosthetics. I also like the neatness and angles of the moustache and beard, I think styling them would be interesting. Because of his age and hairline, I think a bald cap and wig would be necessary. I know i’d have to find an older model if I were to choose this portrait.
Schneider, R. p105-107. (1994) The Art of The Portrait. Koln: Benedikt Taschen Verlag
I think that having multiple images of the same person helps gauge a more well rounded idea of what to aim for . These 3 portraits of Albrecht Durer are from different angles, at different ages and the one without the beard or moustache enables us to see more clearly the shape of his chin and jawline. Obviously if i were to pick one of these images then i would focus on how he looks in that portrait, but say that one of his features was obscured in that image, I would like to be able to look at another painting of him to see what he would look like in order to make him look as accurate as possible. I think the backgrounds in these portraits wouldn’t be too challenging to recreate either.
PORTRAIT OF GIAN GALEAZZO SANVITALE, by Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, 1524, Naples.
“A portrait of the master of Fontanellato, for whose palace Parmigianino painted the Diana and Actaoen frescoes. The Austere architectural background and the heavily symbolic accessories, possibly owing something to German Prototypes, point clearly in the direction of Bronzino, who must have been familiar with a portrait like this.”
I think that this portrait has great potential to work with as far as postiche is concerned, with the big textures beard and moustache. The skin is flawless, which would mean some corrective/beauty makeup would be required. The eyebrows are also very thin and delicate, so I could ask my model of i could pluck his eyebrows, or cover them and create postiche brows. As the hairline is quite far back, I could make a bald cap and then work with a wig. However, because the face is so smooth and almost lacking in character and defining features, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for prosthetics. The nose is quite long, elegant and pointed, but the eye bags are so minimal that they wouldn’t require prosthetics, as are the forehead and cheekbones. I think making someone look that angelic and smooth would require more beauty makeup than it would prosthetics, and I would like to choose a portrait that would give me the ability to focus more on prosthetics. Realistically the background would also be very difficult to stage in order to recreate an accurate image.
The Masters, 25-36. Knowledge Publications. page 12.
Chaturporn Sornlampoo, Texture of Oil Colour. (2012) [Online Image] Available from: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/texture-of-oil-color-chatuporn-sornlampoo.html [Accessed: October 6th 2014]
Schneider, R. (1994) The Art of The Portrait. Koln: Benedikt Taschen Verlag
Hayes, J. The Portrait in British Art, (1992), London: National Portrait Gallery Publications p37
Charles I. (2014) [online image] Available from: http://www.hrp.org.uk/learninganddiscovery/Discoverthehistoricroyalpalaces/monarchs/charlesfirst [Accessed: October 6th 2014]
Sir Anthony Van Dyke, Charles I. [online image] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England#mediaviewer/File:Sir_Anthony_Van_Dyck_-_Charles_I_(1600-49)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg [Accessed: October 6th 2014]
Obviously famous people or monarchs have had many portraits done of them, which again helps with creating a more well rounded perspective of the person. Like Phillipe de Champaigne, Charles I also has a portrait with 3 images of himself from different angles, wearing different outfits. In that painting he looks quite gaunt and lean, whereas compared to Daniël Mijten’s portrait of him, he looks very youthful, with rounded features, healthier hair and a fuller face. Obviously age brings more elements to work with and i like the triad painting for perspective.
Philip III Spain (2013) [online image] Available from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philip_III_of_Spain_(1578_–_1621)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg [Accessed October 6th 2014]
Philip IV Spain. (2014) [online image] Available from: http://madmonarchist.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/monarch-profile-king-philip-iv-of-spain.html [Accessed: October 6th 2014]
As both of these paintings are of monarchs, there are several perspectives to be found for each subject. Because they are father and son, it lends another angle, as far as facial similarities are concerned. Looking from one to another, you learn more about both kings. I think Philip IV has a more characterful face, and would be more interesting to recreate. The mournfulness around his eyes could be created with subtle brow prosthetics which could be reinforced by his limp hair, set off by his uncharacteristically upturned moustache.
Initial Research
Caspar David Friedrich (1810) [online image] Available from:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A._Freyberg_-_Portrait_of_Caspar_David_Friedrich.jpg [Accessed: 12th October 2014]
The focus of this portrait is obviously the hair, specifically the sideburns. The potential for this portrait, postiche wise is excellent. The wig would need to be styled and slicked down, potsiche eyebrows and the heavy, curly sideburns would be challenging. However, I don't want to just challenge myself with regards to postiche. Aside from a prosthetic nose piece I can't see much potential for any other prosthetics and the brief for this project requires one silicone flat piece and one 'feature' piece made in a closed mould. If there were any distinctive facial features that I could do some other prosthetics for, then this portrait would proabbly be the one i'd pick. The texture of the painting is also cracked, which would've been interesting to experiment and work with.
When looking to recreate a painting, it is not only the image the painting portrays that is important, but the texture of the painting itself. Particularly in historic paintings, cracking of the paint is evident as it has decayed over time. As a lot of portraits are also oil paintings, the texture of the paint is evident, as instead of a smooth finish, brush strokes can be seen or the paint has been daubed on for artistic reasons. I will take this into account when choosing a portrait, as I could try and recreate the effect with makeup, edit the effect in afterwards or possibly a mixture of both.
Charles I
Although we are advised to choose a male portrait for this project, I'd like to try and do something a little different by possibly doing a circus freak or a bearded lady. However after much research, I couldn't find any actual portraits or atleast any realstic enough to use for this project. The majority of the images I found were actual photos, which were in speia/black and white. Any other images I found were circus advertisements, and were far too cartoon-like.
Bearded Lady. (circa !900) [online image] Available from:http://allegralaboratory.net/lamentations-of-the-bearded-lady/ [Accessed: October 3rd 2014]