Colour

I realize that i cannot work entirely from black and white photo's, mainly because it'll get bored with lack of color. So i took some more photos of my mum and sister at home, in digital color this time. I wanted to keep skin and flesh and faces still the main focus of the photo's, so i asked them to be wearing no make up and wear a towel or a dressing gown, and i took the photo's of them lying in my mum's bed. In fact, my sister was just out of the bath and is in a very laid back mood, the same as in the photo's taken on the beach, which was perfect.

I wanted to draw and paint these images with Lucien Freud and Paula Rego's late work especially in my mind, so took the photos in that style too. Neither are posing and were deep in conversation for much of the time i took the photo's. Their intimacy as mother and daughter is shown as well as their own personal body shape and therefore the contrast between young and middle aged. I began to focus especially on my sister with my mum as less of a focus point; seeing my sister in a simple white towel with no make up on, she looks pure and fresh, and her skin looks brilliant to paint from. There is also a sense of vulnerability and female insecurity which i didn't especially strive to create, but it is interesting that it comes naturally as well. This reminds me of Paula Rego's inspiration for her work of women, and the 'Dog Women' phase, which then gave me a lot of ideas as to how to paint from there photo's. I edited the photo's slightly in photoshop to increase the contrast between the skin and white fabric, making the duvet and the towels less of a focal point, and the skin bolder and more significant.