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Mirror Selfie: Male
Source: Screenshot of user post on Instagram
In much of the animal kingdom, it is the male that makes a elaborate mating display. Peacocks, spiders, fish, and...humans.
This is a figure study in a specific pose: the mating male take photo of self in mirror. It is a beautiful display of light and shadow, musculature, and masculinity.
Painting with watercolor is a practice in vulnerability. Paper remembers marks and scars. The pigment is transparent and stacks layers and events. It is the epitome of “showing your work,” because it is all there on display. A watercolor painting is a display of actions in real time, a depiction of decisions made.
For this series, I challenged myself to paint with my paper upright (as opposed to flat). So, I propped my table to have an upright posture. This effected the core of my painting practice in a few key areas:
The viscosity of paint--to maintain control and avoid mess, I would have to be careful to mix my paint to a perfect consistency to stay suspended on a vertical piece of paper.
The speed at which I paint--because of the desire to achieve light washes, and wet-on-wet effects, I would have to approach each ‘section’ with speed and efficiency. Some of these paintings (like this one) were completed in a single sitting, as I wanted to carry the wet paint throughout the entire image.
Attention to error--The vertical drips you see throughout this series is a visual account of error, a moment when too much water was present in the paint, or I held my brush down too long in hesitation. I accept each of these moments because they too are decisions made for your consideration.