I decided to make another "test" piece for my oil portraits, to see whether adding light splatters to the background added to the overall portrait or detracted from it. I used Redi as my model for this one, the background was painted a few months ago so it was perfectly dry to work on...
I went through the same process as with Kristyna's test piece (which had the background painted but without splatters), of tracing the portait from a photo onto paper and segmenting the image in pencil.
I then mapped the shapes of the portrait out onto the canvas in pencil, before filling in the sections in oil paint.
I really love the half-finished versions of these paintings - which perhaps has some symbolism around transitions.
I'm really happy with the finished piece and I think it turned out better than Kristyna's - obviously this photograph is a bit shiny since the painting is still drying...
I messaged the WhatsApp group I created with redi, Kristyna and Lora and all three of them prefer the portraits with the splatters. I think it adds some chaos, drama and motion to the artworks which compliments the idea of migration and complex identity - so I have decided I will use it on all of the final portraits.
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