Who Is Real?

"Who Is Real?" is made up of several layers that are pulled together through transparent and solid forms creating abstract figures. While brain storming titles for this painting and talking with Joe Baes about it, he mentioned "Who is Real?," which is the name of one of his songs (click here to listen!) and I thought it fit perfect with the painting.

The layering process was a lot of fun! These first two photos show the two different layers of acrylic paint which were mainly applied with a palette knife. These poses came from a figure in motion exercise I did during life drawing class last fall, so I got a little crazy and added some splatter and lots of strokes to add motion. 

The next layer is oil paint applied very thick with a palette knife to build up the body of the figures. 

Then came the background layer which was just a thin layer of oil to keep the acrylic texture showing through. 

Then comes the final product! I added more definition to the figures with bold lines and thin layers inside of the bodies to add mass. "Who Is Real?" is a fight with individuality and how a person can reflect their character, whether it be true or false, to those around them. So, in the end, I thought it necessary to leave bits of the background in the figures to create a sense of transparency, because in some way or another we all become a product of our environment. 

36" x 48"

Below are a few detail shots to show the texture and layering in the final piece.