Oscar Wilde

Back into proper painting action today and it’s a watercolour portrait. Someone put up an Oscar Wilde quote the other day on LinkedIn next to a black and white photo of him and Oscar went straight to the top of my portrait waiting list. Maybe it’s something about black and white portraits that gets to me.

I went for a posterised painting using the trippy scheme and following my usual process. The rainbow colours in the scheme seemed proprietary for Oscar given given his spell in prison for having the gall to be gay.

I have to say I do like this one. Maybe my selfie at the end of the year and next year’s PAOTY submissions will all be posterised trippy portraits because they always turn out great as long as my value plan has a big enough mid-tone area for the trippy colours to shine through without the French ultramarine obscuring them. The colours are always a surprise too. Partly because my trippy layer is random and I don’t really know which colours will end up showing in the mid-tine areas but also because I’m a bit inconsistent with the thickness of the ultramarine layer, meaning that the trippy colours show through better in some paintings than in others. This one is great. The masking fluid and ultramarine have both done their job in creating a likeness and some personality, while the other colours add an extra layer of interest. Oscar’s up for sale, with the price to be found here.