A New Series in Oil: Embrace

Last week I began a new painting series on embraces and hugs. I’ve always loved this drawing of mine from a few years ago of two people in an embrace. In November last year, on a brief trip to Sweden, I attended a graffiti workshop and was inspired to see the embrace in spray paint on a wall.

Here I am in the studio sketching ideas for the graffiti:

Which later turned into this experimental spray paint piece:

The embracing figures have been on mind and I have recently started a new series of paintings in oil on canvas. I’ve painted out the first layer of the first five pieces, and it’s struck me how emotive the figures can be. A simple shift in the tilt of a figure’s head or a replacement of a hand upon a shoulder – these small pieces have a large impact on the story the painting tells.