New drawing

[Thomasin Dewhurst]

Peter, thank-you for your very kind comments. I am very pleased you like it.

Michael, thank-you also for your positive feedback, and your criticisms. I left the background figure as it is in this one because it was more light than solidity I was aiming for - more the movement of stage light over the form of the face.

Alex, with the light I was trying to keep a bleached feeling to the back face, where the light erases the form to a certain extent. I also felt that the dark was not defined enough as shadow, and somewhat careless, but that it needed to be kept rougher in order to have the fore-figure's details a contrast to it.

I will definitely keep your comments in mind when I work on these things. I think I'll do another version of it or something similar. I want to keep this one as it is for the moment to study the things that work.

[Christy Talbott]

Hi Thomasin, this sketch is wonderful like all your work. It's so purely and uniquely you that I don't feel able to critique this. I'm guessing your aim is not to be all that literal here but more expressive. I can only look forward to seeing your end piece.

[Thomasin Dewhurst]

Christy, thank-you very much for your advice. You made me remember what it was I was excited about in doing this. I always forget my intentions and look at the finished work from a conventional viewpoint. I think I am going to look at Matisse's Le bonheur de vivre (The Joy of Life) (image attached), because he concentrated on colour contrasts for the first time, ignoring conventional, life-like compositions in order to work with the power of colour and composition, except I want to concentrate on tonal contrasts and compostion (I think - I never know where my mind will actually take me).

[Alexandra Tyng]

Originally Posted by Thomasin Dewhurst

Alex, with the light I was trying to keep a bleached feeling to the back face, where the light erases the form to a certain extent.

I know you said you wanted to keep this as is, but I had a few thoughts for the future: What if you lowered the overall value slightly? This would push that figure back. You could still maintain a bleached look by lowering the contrast between light and shadow.

Originally Posted by Thomasin Dewhurst

I also felt that the dark.. . . needed to be kept rougher in order to have the fore-figure's details a contrast to it.
.

I like this idea a lot. You could keep the sketchy, rough quality and still do the above.

Of course there may be other much better ways.

I was just thinking that you often seem to concentrate your energy and attention on one figure in a composition, the focal point, and maybe spend a little less energy on the others. I think you could bring your work to a higher level if you gave more attention to working through the problems of the secondary figures. I am not referring to lack of detail, which I realize is a conscious decision.

[Thomasin Dewhurst]

Alex - thank-you for kicking me out of my complacency - you are so right, and I am essential so lazy and so reluctant to work the second figures because of the problems of each figure taking away from the others. I am not naturally a group figure painter, but I think this is because I haven't tried properly. You are such a master at group portraits and narratives! You have touched on a truth about my work - that my paintings seem more like studies rather than major paintings. I avoid making actual statements because I don't want to commit myself to an idea in case it isn't quite representative of my personality and self-image, but this is blocking me in getting to a new level. And I think I really would like to do a major piece on a theatrical theme with a real narrative and a number of legendary of classical theatrical figures doing different things - so do it, Thomasin!