Friday, January 2, 2009

Meself

12 x 9"
oil on masonite
nfs

Chalk this one up to watching a documentary on Francis Bacon. He used oils for what they were meant for. Each stroke is deliberate, each color is decided. He said something about embracing the happy accidents that happen when the stroke of one color meets another. When I look at one of his paintings, I can imagine where he began and where he ended - those are the paintings that inspire me the most. That's what thrills me about Lucian Freud's work. They made me want to paint when I was a little girl and still do. Perhaps I'll do a self portrait in the beginning of every year, from now on.



10 comments:

adebanji said...

POWERFUL!

Art with Liz said...

I love the way you use paint - so thick and lush and the end result is magnificent.

Making A Mark said...

What a good idea! I like the simplicity of this.

I'd never have associated you with Francis Bacon! That makes me think of swirly brushmarks loaded with paint that blur out in parts. Looking at it again I can see you've done a Karin version!

Carol Schiff Daily Painting said...

WOW, wonderful!

Anonymous said...

I liked your portriat that you submitted to the self-portriat competition, but I like this one even better. It's raw and very powerful. It reminds me more of Freud than Bacon but I see what you mean.

I was just at the Met last week and one of Frued's paintings of Leigh Bowery was on display. The painting was huge and wonderful.

Edward Burton said...

Wow, Karin, very powerful self-portrait!

Jala Pfaff said...

This is stunning and powerful. I like it even better than your last self-portrait. That one was perfect too, but this one has more emotion. Brava!

SharonWrightArtist said...

Awesome, magnificent, the portrait and you.

L Rico said...

Karin, I'm a new fan of your blog. Amazing stuff. The self portrait is really good. Loved the idea of doing a self portrait at the beginning of each year. What an interesting concept to now only see how, as an artist, we change, but also, as a person. I think I might consider this a personal challenge as well.

As for your daily paintings....how do you make that happen. Love that idea too, but it's not a reality for me.

Janet Whitehead said...

This painting pulls me in and demands a long look. To me, being snagged by a painting and wanting to study it - well it just doesn't get any better for the viewer.