Today was very energetic. No more pondering on what to do next as I knew that painting the mask to cover the entire female face was the objective. Being opaque sheet it was simple to trace the outline of the face. Next paint paynes grey graduating the colour tones from light to dark and from left to right across the marked oval and wait for it to dry and cut out.
Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acetate sheet and acrylic paint, 40cmx35cm.
This is me cutting out and testing that colour and shape are good, they are!
Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acetate sheet and acrylic paint, 40cmx35cm.
Here is the end result. It is exactly as I wanted. It is an obstructed view of her face, it signifies to me a masking or covering of the female, she is shielding herself from the gaze. She has added another layer almost an outer skin hiding the structure of form, camouflage!
James Ensor (b1860 – d1949). Ensor is often referred to as “the painter of masks” . Although he made paintings, drawings, and prints of other subjects it was his paintings of masked figures that drew my attention to him when I investigated human identity within my year 2 work.
Self-portrait with Masks (detail), 1899, Menard Art Museum, Komaki City, Japan
This revisiting of identity and covering or cloaking of ourselves has drawn my attention back to the previous large canvas that I worked , which I wrapped in brown paper and put to one side. This is the ideal opportunity for me to unwrap it and see how I feel about it. Having studied it I am thinking that I am going to work on her face as I can now see that her nose is not right.
Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, detail of canvas 180cmx120cm.
Much better nose shape now (unfortunately I went ahead and re-painted without taking a before photograph so you will have to take my word that it is!).
The mask idea has inspired me to explore the idea of making a smaller mask to only partially cover her face, enough to question why she may have chosen to do this.
Kathryn Raffell, 2015, acrylic on acetate sheet, 20cmx10cm.
And here is the mask placed across her face. My tutor suggested putting holes in the canvas and tying the mask on but I think I will only add thin ribbon to the sides of the mask to hand down, to suggest that it is tied there. I have feathered the colour of the mask to link to the feathering of the peacocks on the kimono and lined the eye cut outs with blue, suggestive of peacock feathers.
Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Acrylic on canvas and acetate sheet, detail of canvas 180cmx120cm.
Now that I have “masked” her face I am thinking of painting a reflective face in another part of the painting. Her hand resting on her dress would be an ideal place to add in a hand mirror. Lucian Freud often painted his own portrait as a reflection in small mirrors.
Lucian Freud, Interior with Hand Mirror (Self-Portrait) 1967 (private collection).
I need to find a hand mirror and take some photographs and experiment in some sketches, the angle and face that will work best in the way I want to use the idea.
