Artist Inspiration

My favorite gallery in London is definitely the national, and in fact i don't think many galleries worldwide compare. I could spend hours there; it fails to get boring. For this project however, i thought the National Portrait gallery would be better suited and that i would find more inspiration there than the national gallery itself. The painting that first caught my eye was one of Jacob Rothschild called 'Man in Chair' by Lucian Freud. Freud is one of my favorite living artists because his ability to convey flesh and character through paint is phenomenal. I love the texture of his work and the rawness to its quality. His paintings are brutal and harsh in ways, yet somehow warm. I love the intimacy and the sensual character of his portraits. There is definitely a family element to his work, as many painting are of his daughters and his grand

children.

This was definitely my favorite painting on that floor, so i sat against the wall opposite it and began to sketch it freely, intending on refining it when i got home. But for some reason i stayed there for about an hour, i didn't want to leave it until my drawing was fairly correct and i really enjoyed it. In the same room as this painting was also a painting of Max Wall by Maggi Hambling, which was very strong. It shows the mans character as a professional comedian as well as his natural gentlen

ess and affection for his cat. The attention is entirely drawn to his face which shows tone and definition of wrinkles and blemishes better than a photo could ever do, because it defines what is important in the face and therefore makes it

more prominent in the painting.

My other favorite artist at the portrait gallery is Paula Rego. I think she is a

fascinating artist that ties together art with feminism,

literature, persona and intelligence. Her portrait of Germa

ine Greer is amazing- an incredibly famous woman but caught in the moment and natural; she is

not posing and she is not ashamed, a key message of my project. Greer said herself that the lack of flattery in the painting appealed to her; "A portrait that is kind of condescending". This is really interesting because it shows how insecurity and lack of confidence is completely absent- and which is what i

think makes the painting so striking and impressive. Completely natural. Being able to paint this completely natural portrait is so hard, and Rego and Freud, and Hambling and Walsh are all incredible examples of how it is possible.