The Manifestation of the Soul

I have always drawn from when I could first hold a pencil. I think most children do, but we were particularly lucky because my father was a printer which meant there were always notepads made from paper offcuts. Paper was never in short supply which meant I could draw with an abundance that meant it never felt precious. My dad, sadly no longer with us, retired in 1998 yet I still have a stack of paper from him in my studio because he continued to supply me well into adulthood too. And because I drew with abundance, I constantly drew anything and everything but especially people. People I invented, people I knew, people I would like to meet, famous people, people in every imaginable form because portraits and figures have always fascinated me.

If I visit an exhibition I’m always drawn to portraits and people, imagining what lies behind their eyes and what stories they have might tell. The National Portrait Gallery in London is one of my favourite places to visit

‘Jump for Joy’ Oil on Canvas

Throughout the years as I have dallied with different media and different styles, sometimes realistic and sometimes abstract and eventually branching into textiles, but there have always been people in my work, so it should be no surprise that now as I’m becoming more serious about my painting it is people that I want to paint.

Asking myself why portraits, I realise it is because they are such a challenge. It’s about getting beyond the likeness to find the expressions and feelings behind the face. It is about understanding, interpreting and creating a connection with another human being and in doing so connecting with myself. It is about understanding, shared human experience and creating something unique. It is compulsive. It is about creating a story. Ultimately, it is always about the stories

‘Marian’ Acrylic on Canvas

Our ability to distinguish and recognise faces is hardwired. Babies, even new-borns prefer to look at faces over everything else and learn to recognise familiar faces within weeks, or even days. They will recognise two dots and a dash drawn onto a balloon as primitive features. As infants it is programmed into us to respond to a face which has its roots in survival but as we grow up, we continue to respond to faces in a unique way. Fundamentally we are all basically the same, two eyes, a nose and a mouth yet most people can recognise and distinguish between hundreds, if not thousands of faces. Not only can we recognise faces in an instant, but we might also learn to read someone’s mood or character too, we can guess their age, whether they are feeling unwell, tired, happy, sad or embarrassed and we can spot family resemblances. Faces are fascinating to us, so it is no wonder they have fascinated artists for centuries too.

‘Ellie’ Oil on canvas

In the age where endless selfies have become a normal feature of everyday life we might ask if there is a place for portraiture in our society today. Before the invention of the camera a painted or sculpted portrait was the only way in which someone’s image could be captured, and portraits often served as important historical documentation. Although it is worth bearing in mind that portraits were mostly commissioned by the wealthy and powerful who had strong opinions about how they would like to be portrayed and as a result would not necessarily be a completely true likeness. But now that cameras are so readily available and most of us can snap thousands of images on our phones how does a painted portrait fit into the picture? If rendering a likeness was the only function of a painted portrait, then we might indeed be correct to assume it is a redundant art form. We don’t need artists to tell us what someone looks like

‘Joe’ Oil on canvas

But a painting is so much more than capturing an image and whilst creating a likeness is important, a portrait shouldn’t just be aiming for photo realism but rather be looking for an essence of someone. The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said that the face is the manifestation of the soul, the outer man being a picture of the inner man and I believe that is at the heart of portrait painting. We want to capture something of the soul of a person, something of the inner self, the character, the personality. We also as artists add something of ourselves into every painting we make, and it is that connection between the two that makes for a good portrait.

‘My Favourite Painting’ Oil on canvas

Some of you reading this will know that back in February I started a project to draw or paint 100 portraits. I called it ‘100 Amazing Faces’ and I may have even drawn some of you or those close to you. By the time I had finished I had drawn more than 100 faces in pencil, ink, pastel, watercolour, acrylic and oil and learned so much in the process. All of the portraits were made from photographs which proved to be a challenge in itself. Badly lit photos, out of focus images, squinting faces in bright light with heavy shadows, cheesy grins and flashing teeth, all made my task much more difficult. Whilst a photograph was good for capturing a likeness it didn’t help me capture the person. It is no coincidence that the half dozen or so faces I chose to turn into paintings, with the exception of two, were all of people I actually know. And those two… they didn’t work out and I will paint over them. So although I used photos for reference, for the six successful ones (the ones you can see here) I also had an image in my mind too.

“It's quite telling of portraiture that love shines through. It’s one of the reasons I know I can’t paint people I don’t love. If it works, it is only in a staged way.” Celia Paul, artist

Although I’m happy with all of these, at least two of the people I have painted are not entirely convinced that I have captured them well. And it has made me realise that it’s not only the rich and powerful who want to be shown to be looking a certain way. Most people don’t want to see their wrinkles and flaws and they want to be portrayed in their best light. Their own expectation of what they look like doesn’t always match my interpretation. So, when we are painting portraits, we are also playing with the notion of self and identity. That can be tricky to navigate, and I do often think it might be easier to paint still life or landscapes.

‘Vicky and Mick’ Oil on canvas

But I will continue to paint people and faces because of the obstacles not despite them. I love the challenge and I love doing it, which is just as well as next February I have a small exhibition of portraits in a local café and I still have at least another dozen to paint which does mean I’m looking for more volunteers. If you fancy being the subject of one of my portraits, then please do let me know. I’m up for the challenge… are you?

As an aside, I’m currently loving the BBC programme that is currently showing called Extraordinary Portraits available in the UK on iPlayer. As a celebration of the 75th birthday of the NHS, each week a different artist has been commissioned to paint, sculpt or photograph a portrait of an ordinary NHS worker doing an extraordinary job. People with incredible and powerful stories. It’s a wonderful demonstration of the power of a good portrait.

Thank you once again for reading. And if you are enjoying these weekly posts please do share with a friend.