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| Close up detail of Pinstripes and Plaid / Portrait of Jamie Wyeth by Lynne Gerard |
Larger than life patriarch, N.C. Wyeth and his dynamic, dramatic, dazzling paintings captivate my imagination by taking me into faraway conjured landscapes. Paintings by his son, Andrew, imprint themselves upon me in a much different way - through their tensions of strength and subtlety, subdued colours, technical virtuosity, so adeptly capturing the essences of things, whether they be landscapes or humans, in a manner that resonates with the emotional responses arising within me through my own habitual roamings through windswept fields. And then we have the grandson, James (Jamie) - what an astounding amalgamation of familial influences he has had which year after year pour forth from him in rich, novel expressions unique to himself!
Among the three painters, I really cannot pick a favourite - each of them has a special place in my reflective soul - however, there was an inner prodding that compelled me to have a go at a portrait of Jamie. Who knows where these inner proddings initially spring forth? Does it matter? I think not - if the muse provides a suggestion, I follow it! So this summer in between servicing tourists and making greeting cards, I would sneak off to my easel to play with large charcoal studies and Jamie Wyeth was one of them.
Within my personal selection of books on the art of the Wyeths there are some intriguing photos of Jamie. And on the internet, photo images of Jamie through the years are in abundance. But I did not want to work from an image captured by (and belonging to) a photographer. Instead, I turned to researching videos, pausing them when a certain expression or pose pleased me and then took a screenshot photo of the stilled scene. I probably captured 40 to 50 of these screenshots from a variety of interviews and documentaries that had Jamie Wyeth in them. As I don't know Jamie Wyeth personally, I felt this was as close as I could come to taking my own reference photos.
One thing I noticed in a good share of the images and videos one finds of Jamie Wyeth is his somewhat formal, yet playful attire. Knickerbockers and mis-matched socks, casual shirts and suit coats, sometimes with a tie, often times not. There seemed to me to be a good number of occasions (past and present) when Jamie would be wearing a plaid flannel shirt with a pinstripe suit coat (how delightfully funky is that, eh?) and I knew this is the way I wanted to dress him for my portrait. And, as the portrait came together, it seemed quite fitting to use pinstripes and plaid for the title.
I did a lot of ink wash studies of Jamie in my sketchbooks in studio and at home - so much so that eventually I could easily do 5 minute sketches of a certain likeness without looking at any of my reference photos.
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| 5 minute ink wash sketch of Jamie Wyeth by Lynne Gerard |
I had anticipated that I would make the most of Jamie's manner of dress presentation by doing him in full figure, but in the end, I have decided to save that for a smaller painting as I rather like the impact these massive head portraits make when rendered in charcoal, especially when I place them in the foreground with the epic panorama of the North Channel and East Bluff that is the charmed view outside my studio in the background.
To remind my husband that he remains my favourite person to sketch, I made sure I continued to sketch his fine visage as well.
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| Ink wash sketch of Kevin Droski by Lynne Gerard |
After developing enough familiarity with sketching Jamie in ink, I moved to a full sheet - 26 x 40 inches - of Neenah Paper (Environment, Desert Storm, 100lb cover) for my more formal charcoal portrait. I used the homemade willow charcoal Kevin makes for me and some white conté for highlights.
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| Pinstripes and Plaid / Portrait of Jamie Wyeth by Lynne Gerard |
I frequently sharpen a bit of an edge on my charcoal sticks by firm rubbings on the left corner of my paper and find I have a tendency to work these chaotic layers of charcoal strokes into the overall drawing, usually as abstract elements. In Jamie's portrait however, I worked them into a mini-drawing of Travis, the Ring-billed Gull who has been visiting the railing of the deck outside my studio for over a decade. Those who are familiar with Jamie's body of work will surely understand how fitting it is for me to have included Travis in this portrait. Those familiar with Andrew Wyeth's work will get the nod to one of his paintings that I made with the first two words of the poem I wrote to accompany this charcoal portrait I made of Jamie.
Distant thunder,
Rain o'er the mainland,
The arm of the bluff steady and sure.
Jamie Wyeth is here!
I conjured him!
Pinstripes and plaid (his choice!)
Travis approves.
On my studio balcony
Such things are possible!
--L. Gerard
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| Pinstripes and Plaid / Portrait of Jamie Wyeth by Lynne Gerard |
I'm presenting this charcoal portrait, accompanied by my hand-calligraphed poem, with Peterborough Museum archival matboard and a high quality optically clear archival protective sleeve and certificate of authenticity. Frame ready, the size is 34 1/2 by 50 1/2 inches, price is $900
I'll close this entry with a link to an extra-special exhibition of Jamie's work honouring the life of his wife, Phyllis Wyeth and demonstrating what an important muse she had been from the very start.
I rarely leave Manitoulin Island, so I am very thankful to be able to virtually take in elements of art exhibitions through online resources. In the case of this exhibition devoted to Phyllis, I also was able to purchase the exhibition catalogue, now one of my treasured possessions!