My father's blue profile

This portrait belongs to my yellow period. Back then, I became obsessed with the color yellow and wore it constantly. To enhance it further, I combined it with its complementary color, blue. That's why, in this portrait of my father, you can see that his hair, part of his face, the background, and his shirt are different shades of blue. It's painted from life, as I was heavily influenced by both the Impressionists and the German Expressionists at the time.

In this work, you can see the immediacy and power achieved through the haste with which I had to complete the portrait. The colors are intuitive. I've painted my father throughout my career. This is a special portrait, as it belongs to a period when I was just beginning to find my footing in painting. Some of the traits I apply to my work today are reflected in this portrait.

If you look closely, part of the face is the unpainted cardboard itself.

I liked this technique because it absorbed the oil very quickly and I could start and finish in one session.

I concentrated intensely, because every brushstroke counted. I look back on this time fondly, and this work shows the wildness and energy of my thinking back then.

Technique: Oil

Support: Cardboard

Measurements: 35 x 24.3 cm.

Date of completion: 1997