Elderly Men 2007

'Graham'

This is one from a series of large charcoal drawings I did of elderly men in 2007. The images are huge in scale, this piece is on a canvas 4ft by 5ft so takes up a considerable amount of room! It was done directly from an image using several sticks of charcoal, white chalk and a paint wash. I really like this piece as I think just his facial expression and the monotone effect creates an air of mystery, provoking the viewer to be overwhelmed with questions about this man.


'Richard Love'

This was the largest of the pieces at 7ft by 5ft it was a mammoth task to take on, however its size really adds a lot to the piece. It was too large to keep personally so it currently hangs in the hall at Pate's Grammar School Cheltenham.



'Big Mack'

This piece was the last in the series, and the one I felt that I could experiment the most with. I found that I was very precious about my work, and did not push my abilities and ideas far enough. This image started off as the others, as a charcoal drawing directly onto a large canvas, however I then forced myself to paint into the image. This was a very important part of the work for me, giving myself the freedom to let the paint decide what to do, and not being concerned about the overall result as I didn't know where it would end.

The concept of growing old, and accepting that the end is near is one that changes people, they become more free and true to themselves, losing inhibitions. I think the portrait of Richard successfully shows this, as he looks like he doesn't have a worry in the world. I learnt so much from this project about how elderly people see themselves. Initially they often needed to be encouraged to talk about themselves, and reassured that it is interesting. When people look at my work I want them to see my portraits initially from a distance, getting an overall idea of the face but when they would not usually give them a second glance, I force them to look closer - take time to look and think about them, and hopefully intrigue them about their lives.