I have long been attracted to figurative work—the most challenging type of painting. The human eye is very unforgiving when it comes to evaluating a likeness. A painting either looks like the subject and or it does not—there is little middle ground. To capture the essence of someone—the gleam in the eye, the gesture of a hand—is rewarding. Flesh does not have one color in the sense that a green leaf of lettuce does. It is a moist, reflective surface and, thus, takes up the colors of that which surrounds it, clothing, lighting, walls, sky… In order to give a pleasing rendition of a face the artist has to break the different planes down into warm and cool areas. All shadows have cool in them (and some warm, too!). So, as you build up layers of paint into the face you have to work the cools—purples, greens, blues and cool reds—into the shadows. Conversely, the areas that catch the light will be predominantly warm with (in a northern European complexion) pinks, and ochres and dilute Siennas. To make any painting sparkle one has to use warm colors, cool colors and earth tones.
