Braving faces

I’ve had this secret fear for a really long time that I’m no good at painting faces … so much so, that I’ve pretty much avoided them since childhood.

But recently I found some achievable inspiration in this book which helped me tackle this belief head-on … Does a good face really need to be realistic, or can I make it meaningful, in my own style? 

I decided to give it a go and before long, I was hooked! Turns out painting faces are fun!

Once I’d challenged this belief, I decided to tackle another. Can I merge my expressive, intuitive painting with illustrative painting? Is it okay for an Artist to be - um - design-ey, playful and whimsical at the same time? 

I could never have imagined how much this combo FELT LIKE HOME.

'Love Again'. 16" X 48". Acrylic, Printed Papers, Ultra Fine Glitter and Paint Pen on 1" deep Canvas

Facing these old, long carried fears has turned out to be incredibly healing for me. It has opened my repertoire to express my emotions in a new way. Before my works were purely symbolic and now I have another layer or authentic, vulnerable and rich content to work with … like I’m letting myself BE SEEN.

This feels strangely lovely, like an onion shedding layers that no longer sting my eyes. Now, there are simply new insights to explore.

All my Love,

Chrissy x