Featured Artist Dee Jackson

Australian artist Dee Jackson presents her beautiful portfolio of watercolour portraits. Visit her website for more information.

 

 

I love painting watercolour portraits. It is the way the medium ebbs and flows and creates its own mark. I may guide the paint, but often I feel that my portraits create themselves.

 

 

Each painting emerges differently. Sometimes a portrait appears quickly and simply with soft washes and few strokes, or I may build up the image, over time, with layers of watercolour glazes.

 

 

My portrait paintings, however, are always based on a good drawing. I especially enjoy the slight imbalance of each drawing and the way we each see a subject differently.

 

 

I always try to find that unguarded, sometimes fleetingly human side of my subject and may see some essence or trait in a person’s face that illustrates their lively character.

 

 

With a baby or child, all I can ever hope to show is the love and the joy of their family. It is a way of preserving memories and capturing life’s special moments.

 

 

When painting an older adult, I imagine how their family may like to remember them. Occasionally, I  choose to soften the face a little or at other times I will emphasize the strongly etched facial lines of a sitter.

 

 

For commissions, I often use photographs as a reference as I may not even meet the sitters. The majority of my commissioned work is sourced via the web.

 

 

However, I would always prefer to meet my portrait subjects, whenever possible, and spend time with them. I may pass only a few hours with a sitter; however, I believe that knowing as much about their lives, hopes and dreams always informs the portrait.

 

 

As an artist, I realise that we all approach portraiture individually and I always base my watercolour portraits on a good drawing. However, I believe that superimposing a photograph over a portrait can often result in a soulless interpretation – creating a physically perfect yet somehow “dead” portrait.

 

 

I participate in a weekly portrait group.  Some of us paint with oils, some use pastels or acrylics, others sketch with charcoal or graphite, and I use watercolour. I am always amazed and excited by the different outcomes from that workshop. We all see our subject differently. Vive la difference!

 

Dee Jackson invites you to follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

 

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