venerdì 7 novembre 2008

What The Body Tells

As much as I love pictures and photo portraits, I adore custom painted portraits. I don't know, there's surely a pinch of narcissism in this, but I always thought a portait is not only a perfect way to remember but also something that shows the real inner self of a person, a personal interpretation of both exteriority and essence (ever read La Chambre Claire?).

Before studying cinema, I went to the Art School and I remember those drawing classes where we students have to pose for portaits. Every week one of us had to stand in the center of the room (not naked of course, but I assure you it was often embarassing and I always had the craziest poses, like that time when I had to stand holding a big guitare!), surrounded by people looking at you, trying to capture your nature - or at least to make a good sketch! Although we were still so young, most of us already had a personal style and the portraits looked so interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes intense but always showing a personal point of view.

Last year I stumbled upon the work of Amanda Blake, a professional oil painter from Portland, Oregon. Look at them and you'll can easily understand why I love her paintings so much








She says she's obsessed with the colors of faded Polaroids. I think there's nothing more poetic than a faded Polaroid.

Find Amanda Blake on Etsy and on Flickr (take a look at the Little People Blocks set, I adore those ones).

10 commenti:

Kelsie.Lynn ha detto...

i love the 2nd one!
these are really creative pics

Anonimo ha detto...

oo the muted tones are amazing

Unknown ha detto...

I love the porcelain skintone, makes the world look so much more romantic. Gonna check out the Etsy page!

Anonimo ha detto...

Love these, although all her people look like they are frowning!
x

Anonimo ha detto...

They are beautiful!

Rebecca, A Clothes Horse ha detto...

Those are very lovely and poetic. I think there's a childlike approach to them too that I love.

Jimena ha detto...

these paintings are beautiful - thank you for sharing.

softspoken ha detto...

adore these - so glad you shared!

MOUSEVOX VINTAGE ha detto...

these are fantastic. you should check out caryn cast's work. she's a local artist where i live and she's awesome, in my opinion. i was in a show that she curated a long time ago and have been following her work ever since.

here's a link to her website:

http://www.leroyandthegirl.com

AlicePleasance ha detto...

@ rachel c.: love those paintings as well!