In taking this photo I wanted to experiment with the human form when the face is not visible. And this moment with the subject stood in the doorway about to leave the room (backlit by the light in the hallway, without the flash of the camera), felt magical to me, whether I could see her face or not.
This is another example where I am actively writing the memory and not just recording the moment. I imagined that, had this moment happend in my own bedroom, the subject would have been standing next to one of my plants which was sat on the floor next to the door. That would have made the moment even more beautiful in my eyes. So in my sketch of the photo I have plotted in where I planned to add my plant into the painting. I had thought it would be interesting if after being painted the note-to-self was still visible to show the thought and process as being as important as the outcome.
When it came to painting the sketch I knew I wanted to use bright, bold colours. I took inspiration from an artist whose work I have been a fan of for some time, Max Reed (above is a screenshot of their Instagram page). Although they predominately work digitally and my work is done on card with paint, the colour schemes and composition of their works was helpful to me.
I incorporated the little details from my first painting based on my poem that I didn't like: the tiny speckles of paint, the bold outline of paint surrounding the subject, the visible brush strokes in the background. I feel like this has been a succesful painting. I would like to make many more like this and be able to display them as a collection as it is A4-sized I feel that will be stronger.
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