I took a different approach to that indicated in the outline for this exercise. Rather than restaging an image using my own body I restaged a painting using props and photographs of myself and then used these to create a painting of the outcome.
My focus was to concentrate on hands.
Being an amateur guitarist and having a strong interest in music I considered this an ideal opportunity to bring this interest into this particular exercise.
The first step was to look for some interesting images of guitarists hands via a Google image search. As expected there were thousands but I reduced these down to three images. Two photographs and one drawing / painting.
The next step was to take some photographs of myself playing guitar. I enlisted Marian, my wife’s, assistance for this. A few examples below:
Whilst these were interesting a would make good subjects they didn’t fulfil the prop, appropriation, enactment or restaging brief. However I did make a couple of sketches to familiarise myself with the shapes and challenges of drawing / painting hands.
I had in mind two paintings that i was familiar with to try to stages the re-enactment part. The first is a painting that I came across in the Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge. It is a painting by Hendrick ter Brugghen entitled “Young woman tuning a Lute”
Whilst this would be an interesting painting to restage, the hands are well defined and the woman’s expression is that of being startled or caught. The painting is well lit using chiaroscuro techniques to emphasis the highlights. Additionally the fabric of the clothes that she is wearing is wonderfully observed. Despite all this it wasn’t what I was looking for. I had another painting in mind.
I recalled a painting by Pablo Picasso from his Blue period titled ‘The Old Guitarist’ which I remembered as having an unusual pose. The body looks contorted but appears natural. There is an emphasis on the hands which seems to be caressing, enveloping and clinging to the guitar.
Again I got Marian’s assistance in taking some photographs of myself trying to assume a similar pose. Examples below:
From a guitarists perspective there was nothing natural about the pose. I wouldn’t be able to play the guitar hunched up like this. I did get the feeling that I was close up and intimate with the guitar.
I would use the photographs and ‘The old guitarist’ as a source of reference and inspiration to complete a painting of my own. The emphasis of which would be the hands.
Two sketches were made and this was followed by a small painting.
The painting whilst being a little crude had captured the essence of what I was trying to achieve. The player appears to be listening carefully to the guitar and thoughtfully enjoying the sounds that it is making. there is a focus on the hands particularly the right hand picking at the strings. Given the success of this trial painting I decided to complete a further work. Larger scale and less influenced by Picasso’s ‘The Old guitarist’
The completed painting is shown below. I’m pleased with the outcome of this painting. I managed to maintain the feeling of the draft painting and keep the feel of the caress of the guitar whilst maintaining the focus on the hands.
In the context of the exercise I believe that I have explored my response to the challenge and dealt with it in a painterly manner. Becoming an image was the exercise title which I became.
Postscript: trying to photograph this painting was more difficult than I usually find. I think that this is partly due to it being fairly dark and the contrast between the matt finish of the man and the shiny lustre of the guitar. Getting the light correct was problematic. The painting works much better when seen by the naked eye.
Mark Taylor 'Studio Practice' 