Behind the picture : the past embedded in the present

Self portrait oil on canvas – left reverse of image, right the front.

I’ve been taking portrait classes, either as the subject or the student. One lesson I was painting the tutor and he caught my eye and said ‘you’re copying’. I was taken aback.  Surely that is what you are doing, when creating a likeness of someone. But no, the tutor said that I should be exploring. And since that moment my exploring has taken off.

So, I decided to paint over a self portrait started over 10 years ago. But now my precept was different. I ditched the photo that I had been using to ‘copy’ from and found a mirror. Rather than copying I explored, light, tone, texture, character. And here are the results.

I  realised that I didn’t record the original painting, but today I saw the light shining through the canvas where it is drying against a window. Et voila, its past is embedded in its present.