Creative Mischief 2016

 

My portrait Christophe 3 will be exhibited at the National Academy's annual Creative Mischief event starting tomorrow in NYC:

The 5th Annual Creative Mischief Exhibition
National Academy Museum
1083 Fifth Avenue, New York City
Opening Reception: Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Exhibition Dates: May 19-29, 2016
Gallery Hours (for Creative Mischief only):
Monday – Sunday 11 AM – 6 PM

Christophe 3 was part of my series of larger than life-sized head studies (24 x 30 inches, acrylic on canvas). I started the painting with skin tones but gradually covered it in red, in part because I wanted to try another monochrome like Raven 6, but in a different hue.

I hoped to achieve vibrance and push-pull dimensionality using variations on a single color. I used a warm red (orange) against a cool red (pink), with blue-gray shadows to anchor the lights. I also kept the brush strokes free and facial features loosely defined in order to preserve the abstract quality of the image.

It's a bit of a riff on Freud and Auerbach but in terms of contemporary portraiture, I was perhaps thinking of Cian McLoughlin, Edwige Fouvry, and Andrew Salgado.

I enjoyed painting Christophe 3, which ended up decidedly un-classical in technique and spirit. I'm happy that the National Academy chose it for its exhibition.

Here are some progress shots over four 3-hour sessions:

UPDATE:

Here's a selection paintings from the second floor of the National Academy Museum on the last day of the Creative Mischief exhibit.

So sad this beautiful building, the former Huntington Mansion. will be sold after the show closes. It's the end of an era, but hopefully not the end of the National Academy School, founded in 1825 and among the most prominent art schools in the nation.