Sunday, April 23, 2006

Ice Maiden




Ice Maiden

Size: 18" x 24"
Medium: Acrylic
Surface: Canvas
Style: Expressionist Realism
Artist: Thaneeya McArdle


This portrait is the latest painting in my Self-Portraits of Sorts series, in which I use my own face as a model or starting point for portraits which evolve into various characters. Usually these quirky portraits don't really look like me nor are they intended to - but this one looks more like me than the others, and is more autobiographical. This portrait shows a close-up of my face, which was done in a colorful expressionistic manner on a textured surface. I used blue to form the main shadows and surrounded the face in white in order to portray a sense of coldness. At the time of painting this in late November, I had just returned to Florida after spending 6 months in England. Being a Florida girl, I wasn't used to the biting English winter, so as the temperature dipped I felt constantly frozen. Needless to say I was grateful to return to the sunny and warm Florida "winter"! This portrait depicts my feeling of being trapped in inescapable coldness. I used warm hues to further model the face, and made the lips a dark plum to symbolize inner warmth prevailing over outer conditions.


This painting is SOLD.

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