I’ve started work on a series of headless nudes. It’s a development of some figure studies I have been working on. I was interested in seeing to what extent a sense of the sitter’s identity could be conveyed if, first, they were stripped of their clothes, and then, as in the case with this painting, their heads were cropped from the painting.
Update: Headless Nudes
I recently found the photo above showing preliminary work on the four paintings from this series. The completed middle two paintings are shown below.
I had great ambitions for this series of paintings, but in the end the project did not proceed beyond the four paintings shown above. I have since thought about why this project petered out in the way it did. I was always uneasy about the idea of objectifying the models, but I suspect the main reason may have just been bad timing – I moved into a studio where it wasn’t easy to arrange sittings with models, and by the time I found somewhere more suitable, I had moved onto the next big project.
Looking for models for collaborations
Although the main focus of my work is now portrait painting, I am always open to collaborating on interesting projects with people who are interested in art and the creative process. I am happy to collaborate with models, artists or photographers. It would be nice to find a long term collaborator – someone interested in exploring themes or ideas over a number of sittings.
I have a portfolio on PurplePort.com with references from models I have worked with.
If you are interested in the headless nudes project, or if you have any ideas about projects that you would like to develop, then please get in touch. My email address is on my Contact Page.