e displays the binaries between self and other, revealing that always the twain shall meet. In Figure 2, Hewett used heavy impasto to create the appearance of a modelled rather than brushed piece, which is a special and highly expressive style developed with sculptural and textured surfaces. Besides, on the final layers, Hewett works with brush and palette knife to layer and to scrape in order to describe the shape and structure of face and body. The painting is notable by its flesh tones, which is also the first thick layer underneath, with flat florid reds and lead white. He works impulsively, without any primary sketch. At the beginning of his painting process, he quickly paints on the surface straight away through the paint oil for fear of the oil drying. According to this style of painting, an abstracted and active portrait with great verve is created. In his work, some figures are focused on South Africa’s troubled political past so that the portrait presents the complex emotions of politics. The background colours Hewett selects also reflect the complex emotion of each figure. In my own work, background colour will also be related to the colour of the figure to add further information and to help the audience deeply connect with and understand each emotion being communicated. Furthermore, the figures will be directly painted on top of the background straight away without any preliminary sketch, and the models will be taken from memory, regardless of whether they are historical figures or real-life contemporary figures.
Compared with the two artists discussed above, the design of Antony Micallef’s works can be likened to selfies; this is because he uses his own face as the raw intent to create a new portrait with unsettlingly violent, wildly intense elements to express different emotions. Micallef’s artwork presents social explanation as well as self-examination. His paintings are particularly thick, with some pictures being nearly two inches thick; the oil paint is caked onto the canvas, layer upon layer, creating almost three-dimensional images. According to Micallef, he actually attempts to create a sensual body that springs a soul or some other things, such as kind of personification. On the other hand, he wants to use the feature image of different textures to describe the feeling of emotion without explicitly narrating it.
In Figure 3, Micallef started the painting on the canvas, which was already painted in some dark or grey-tone colours, which also might be a background. In the middle of the canvas, there is a man who is looking up, his head to the left direction with the mouth opened slightly. However, Micallef has reduced each element of the individual features, such as flesh, hair, bone or muscle, which thus, become unrecognisable and messy. On the other hand, the brown colour has been mixed with light red oil paint suggesting dynamic activity in process. Furthermore, this evokes the image of a man who has had all his skin violently ripped off, allowing the viewer to clearly see all that lies beneath the surface Using painting tools, such as scrapers and palette knives, for instance, Micallef accurately screws the paints to further distort the expressed image in the hope of creating a picture that will “breathe” on its own. Even though this style does not meticulously depict the facial features, through the texture of a painting movement with black oil paint, the viewers can gauge the feelings and emotions being expressed. Moreover, in his painting, Micallef creates a respite like a surface with heavy oil paint to describe a figurative mass in front of a soft background. He uses the bleed with thick brushstrokes overlapping as the background, lighting a unique and authentic person to the audience. In my own work, the layering depth will be different for each painting in order to highlight the features of the portraits and clearly present the complex emotions. Additionally, anatomy will be used as the main style to depict the emotion; that is to say, following the texture of muscles for emotions, such as when people are laughing, for instance, will add a richly hued and in-depth layering to the expression of ideas.
Ray Turner is a contemporary artist who studies the human appearance. He has created hundreds of portraits, almost all of which are paintings depicted by impasto with vivid colour on a sheet of glass. Compared with the other artists discussed, Turner has some different painting styles; for example, he paints on glass rather than on canvas, and uses pastels instead of intense colour. Ray Turner’s recent series of paintings is entitled Population: Defaced. The main idea behind his artworks is to communicate to viewers that people hide many emotions, but when people face others, they can tell who a person is at the first moment. Even though people take a long time to deeply know each other’s emotions and personality, they still have a face in a moment’s notice to reveal the real side. Turner’s portrait series encourages the viewer to participate and to use their own experiences to interpret and feel what kind of person they are facing. The fourth image (Figure 4) is one painting from the Population: Defaced series. Turner’s paintings are called contemporary painterly oil painting on glass with a coloured film underneath. Turner’s series of paintings include many different portraits presenting various backgrounds and a diverse array of emotions. In another aspect, these images attempt to depict people’s internal emotions in a moment; in other words, there is a narrative style similar to that of photography capturing each image in a film.
In Figure 4, there is a weasel-faced man appearing in the middle of the glass with a yellow background. The man has short brown hair and his face has been divided into two parts by a red line from the middle of his forehead to the end of his nose. The eye on the left of his face has been defaced and is replaced by two vertical sweeping brushstrokes of orange and white, respectively. On the right side, Turner has used thick paint to depict the features of the portrait; on the left side, the forehead has been filled in with dusty blue and the cheek has been painted pink. The mouth has also been painted in two separate colours. Most attention has been focused on his eye even though just one has been painted. The green eyeball with a black pupil is very simply presented; however, it undoubtedly expresses a great deal of emotion, which is formalistic. Besides, the transparent thickness of the glass gives the figure’s silhouette thin shadows; it makes the painting’s gradation more distinct and strengthens the sense of visual space. In the background, behind the figure, there are fuzzy bookshelves. One of the most important effects of a specific background is to provide the audience with more information with which to decipher the story the artist wishes to tell. In my own work, I painted the background with different colour combinations, not only for the artwork’s aesthetic itself, but also for lighting the portrait into the specific atmosphere to reflect the complexities of human emotions.
Joshua Miels is also a contemporary portrait artist, but in contrast to the other artists, he pays greater attention on capturing people’s vulnerabilities as well as depicting emotions. He spends countless hours adding layer upon layer to each painting, and most of his paintings are visually striking and powerful. His portraits are mainly painted with oil paints. Each piece of work starts off with a different subject through experimentation; that is to say, each piece goes through its own journey, with its own emotions and experience. In an interview, Miels stated that his works not only offer pure visual pleasure for himself and the audience, but also deliver a message about the relationship between human and society. He also explains that not all of his figures have a specific message; instead, he prefers for viewers to imagine their own interpretations, influenced by their own experiences and beliefs. Furthermore, every piece can be viewed differently by each individual, and there is no correct or incorrect way to contemplate or decipher these works; the meaning of the artwork depends on who is looking at it. In Figure 5, an old man is squinting his eyes with a puzzled frown in the middle of canvas. From his expression, the old man seems to be feeling miserable. The painting was started on a grey background, and Miels splashed the oil paint as one way to express the sky and body with a grey-blue and dark colours. However, in detailing the old man’s face, he used an unabstracted approach; the face has a deep furrow on the brow and cheeks, as well as around the mouth. Although Miels has not expressed any indication of an eyeball, the audience can clearly feel the old man’s sadder side of life. The tone of the whole portrait is grey, including a background of grey-blue and the old man’s deep brown face. Through the “dark” portraits, Miels aims to encourage people to reflect on their own personal experiences. This notion is something that has inspired me in my own works; while the portrait may not have a direct specific emotion in mind, each figure will have a real sense of emotion that triggers a personal response from the viewer’s heart.
In conclusion, this essay has introduced and considered five separate portraits, each of which has been produced by a different artist. Except for Joshua Miels, the four remaining artists have all employed an abstract approach in depicting their subject, and through this artistic style, the works express and explore the complexity of human emotion. Each artist has inspired me in various ways: through vivid colours, thickness layer, and diversity of background. My work will be painted based on the texture of complex facial muscles, using assorted colours to express the intricacy and multifaceted nature of human emotions.