Hamlet in Modern Dress

[John Crowther]

Okay, John, swallow hard, take a few deep breaths, and hit the "submit" button. My first attachment. This is a student of mine, the title is self-explanatory. It was done from a series of sketches and life studies (the advantage of having acting students available to pose). It's 24" x "36, oil on canvas. I've struggled a bit with Photoshop to get the colors matching, and the difference between the whole and the head detail shows I've had only limited success. I consider this still a work in progress, and am going to continue to tinker and even make major revisions if necessary, so go ahead and have at it if you wish. -- John C.

[Michele Rushworth]

Could you please post your reference photo (assuming this was not done from life)? That will make it a lot easier for someone to give you a meaningful critique.

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

John, this is a vey nice first post, a very haunting and hamletic expression indeed.

I suggest that you have a look at the followings:
The body looks a little flat, specially it looks as there is a part of the trousers missing from behind.

Maybe you could also soften the edges against the background, to give it more volume.

In the face I think the upper lip is too dark and sharp,it contrasts with the eyes that are very expressive instead.

Good luck, keep us updated.

Ilaria

[John Crowther]

Thanks, Ilaria, for the comments, they'll be useful.

Michele, as I mentioned in my original post, this was done from a number of quick gestural sketches and a couple of sittings, then finished without the model. There's no reference photo. I do have a headshot of David, the kind used by actors, but it wasn't a reference and only shows that the likeness is pretty good.

A quick note about the title. I didn't intend that it is literally David playing Hamlet. I like to think of a portrait metaphorically as a "frame" from an imaginary film or play that is the subject's life, with the subject, of course, playing him or herself and me as an out-of-frame character (though it doesn't require the subject to be looking at me). In this case, I see a lot of Hamlet in David, rather than David in the role of Hamlet, if that makes sense.

John C.

[Michele Rushworth]

Sorry, I missed that in your original post.