Sunday, July 8, 2012

Matti Paints - Subject Ryan

Ryan is another person I met through Statlers who agreed to be a part of this project.
I feel that needs to be said.
Without Statlers I wouldn't have had close to half of my participants.
So thank you Statlers! I appreciate it!
Anyhow, Ryan came along and when we began he immediately started by choosing green, purple and orange. I knew that there would be issues. In the end I was right but all in all he's been one of my most fascinating challenges.
His chest hair was very dense and as a result, like Nathan and Scott , I decided that I would try to work around it and just try to focus on the areas of least resistance.
Fortunately it made me focus a lot of my time and efforts on his face and as a result I think that his face work is some of the best I've done in this entire project. I love the British feel of it. I love the amazing detail I could put on him and on his skin.
In the end I found that a lot of the details were going into playful swirls and an almost science-y vibe to his chest which looked something like a refraction mixed with a prism.
Pictured: Height of maturity
I really enjoyed the experience, and despite the challenge I have to say I really liked how the canvas turned out.
In the end though, as we were selecting his picture, I had one choice and he had another. His choice showed him in a nice way with a smile, but I didn't feel that it truly captured who he was. The Ryan I met was inquisitive and humorous, and it almost felt like he was testing me as much as I was discovering him. There was a friendly friction between our choices and while I (of course) went with my instincts (he eventually conceded of course. They all eventually concede)
I really feel that my choice for his picture showed him as he really is. Kind, caring, curious and introspected with just a touch of defensiveness to keep you on edge.


I think Ryan was one of the most complex characters I've got to work with so far and I greatly enjoyed the experience. 

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