Expressing Emotion

[Kimberly Dow]

Lately I've been intrigued by the thought of expressing strong emotions in my figuratives, and even portraits actually. This is a tricky thing since some strong emotions are not always pleasant. Trying to get this across while still keeping the painting from being dark, depressing, overly illustrative...or just plain pleasant enough that it is still sellable is a tough one.

So far my thoughts on this are to use body language, but not facial expressions that are too extreme...and to rely on the title as well.

Any thoughts on this? I'd love to see examples as well of work you think does this sucessfully.

I'll post an example of one I love by the artist Alyssa Monks. It's title is 'I Miss Your Laugh'. I find it strong emotionally - I wont forget this image, but it isnt so instense you wouldn't hang it on your wall. Im speaking for myself of course.