Developing final images

In the next photo shoot, I took another photograph using multiple flash photography with the aim to improve the lighting. I feel that this image works better than the previous as the light catches the elongated neck, emphasising vulnerability, and the strained figuration creates a sense of desperation. I also did an oil-based mono print of this image, exaggerating the the tonal contrast by removing ink in only the lightest areas.

 

I employed similar low camera angles as in Jenny Saville's painting, "Propped" to create extreme foreshortening, and the gripping and clenching of the skin to represent an an insomniac's frustration. Another compositional device I used was creating a triangular shape with the legs and head to lead the viewer's eye between each painting. I also wanted to create tension through a contrast in tone in the fabric, and that the black material didn't allow this. For the final contact sheet of photographs, I wore a grey t-shirt and bare legs instead of a predominantly black attire, ensuring that the clawing and digging into the skin was visible and subsequently more unsettling for the viewer.

 

In my test piece for this series, I used quick and energetic strokes with a palette knife, as well as dark mark-making that encircles the subject, inspired by William Turner's painting 'After the Deluge', creating a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere.

Done