René
René (2022)
8½x11 Pastel on Pastel Paper
Original is Sold
Sexually progressive cultures gave us literature, philosophy, civilization and the rest, while sexually restrictive cultures gave us the Dark Ages and the Holocaust. — Alan Moore
Meet René, the latest addition to the Mini Figurative series. Standing completely naked in a sharp side profile with a downward gaze, he has a quiet, deeply inward mood. He isn’t engaging with the viewer at all; instead, he just seems caught up in his own head.
Working on this piece, the main puzzle was figuring out how to get that rich skin tone to pop using only black, white, and gray. Set against the solid, warm ochre background, I used deep black pastels to heavy up the shadows along his back and the curve of his jaw. Then, I hit his chest, shoulder, and thigh with bright white charcoal to create a high-contrast sheen. The side-lighting does all the heavy lifting, mapping his muscles and giving the profile a really solid, clean structure.
