WIP - I’m not pretty enough

Oct 2021 - WIP - and seems to be a day of self analysis in more ways than one.

After asking my artist daughter what she thought of this WIP she said she thought I needed to fiddle with the face a bit more and that she’s not “pretty” enough. My reply was that “prettiness” is not something I strive for - if anything it’s an accident owing to my models face/form. I’m interested in accident, colour and shapes making form… Her response - she said all my paintings are “pretty”.

Hmmm… cause to stop, think, and reflect. I beg to differ. When looking closely at my paintings there is rarely a prettiness about them. They are at a distance somewhat “pretty” as the human eye puts them together to make sense of them - but close up they are somewhat rough - reminiscent of lead lights, and mosaic’s. I don’t believe in making “decorative” art - I prefer to evoke interest in shape and colour. Francis Bacon said “There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.” an apt description that I wholeheartedly believe. After all, one cannot in all honestly say that Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is “pretty”.

So if my painting is not “pretty” I am grateful. I strive for a little strangeness.