Off – Screen, Oil on linen, 40 x 30 cm, Will Kemp self portrait 2011
I’ve just had my self-portrait selected for the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Competition.
It was painted with Ivory black, raw umber (both Micheal Harding oil paints) and titanium white (Winsor and Newton) on pre-primed linen.
About the painting
Offscreen represents a conscious shift away from the formality of traditional portraiture.
It was inspired by the snap-to-capture culture in which we live, where everything from the mundane to the most important moments in life are a mobile phone photo away, I like the juxtaposition of an instant snap, taken in a moment, with the meticulous hours needed when painting a traditional portrait.
The portrait took over 50 hours to complete.
It poses the viewer the simple question – Â if the subject is not engaged in something worthy, does that make the painting less important?
The national exhibition runs from 14th October to 25th November at the King’s place gallery, London.
