Study from Jenny Saville

Title: Study After Jenny Saville
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 16 x 20 inches
This painting began as a study of one of Jenny Saville’s well known portraits. I was drawn to the way she paints the human face with so much weight, colour and imperfection, allowing skin to feel layered rather than polished.
 
While working from her composition, I experimented with my own use of colour, loose brushwork and thick, raised flowers across the face. The flowers interrupt the portrait almost like another layer of emotion, moving between hiding and revealing the person underneath.
 
For me, this piece was also an exercise in learning from an artist whose approach to portraiture I admire while allowing the painting process to become more playful and personal as I worked.