Study of Curly Hair

My idea for this pose came from a drawing I did in high school. The drawing depicted bare feet walking away from the viewer on a rainy sidewalk with heels in hand. From this, I wanted to create a similar image, but of a full body. My friend Cameron offered to model before, but I already scheduled a different model. Luckily, she was still willing to model nearly a semester later. 

I began searching for props for the pose, such as a dress and shoes. I was willing to buy a dress from Goodwill or TJ Maxx, but was unable to find any that I envisioned for the painting. Instead, I turned to my own closet. In search of a particular style of fancy-but-not-too-fancy, I realized that my own clothing suited my taste best.  

On a deeper level, I am interested in exploring the idea of gender and how it is portrayed through clothing. It is evident that clothing is a form of self-expression and is often the first thing that alerts others to our identity. Other paintings in this show also depict the subject performing her gender identity. In each case, the subject is alone. These moments are when we gain the confidence to embrace or ignore how others perceive us and continue to cherish how we see ourselves. 

Before chaos ensued from the COVID-19 pandemic, I assembled a surface on which to paint. For the painting of Cameron, I made a cradled panel that was larger than any I had ever used before. In order to find the dimensions for the canvas, I completed a full body charcoal drawing of the model in the pose. It was on 24” x 18” paper and appeared as if the subject could use a bigger surface, so I increased it to 32” x 24”. Other preparatory work included leg studies in more energetic walking positions, color studies for potential backgrounds, a Study of Curly Hair, and a Study of Heels. 

The red dress influenced my choice for background color. I went in a different direction than my initial color studies and decided on a blue and black background. This color choice elicited an ambiguous time of day. I intended to create a setting from imagination, but found that it distracted from the focus on the figure. I played around with adding a lamppost, or at least a reference to one, which is in the yellow and orange reflecting onto the ground. As I left Centre to do remote learning from home, I also left this piece because it was too large to take with me. It is still a bit of a work in progress, although the figure is fully developed.