Lucien Freud paints portraits such as the one posted above, "Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II," 2001. As we are approaching our self portrait assignments in basic painting, I figured that it would be a good choice to address a portrait artist. What caught my eye about Freud's work is his approach to skin tones. Traditionally, people aim to paint perfect skin, to a photographic level. Freud, on the other hand, paints skin in segments. Areas with lines or shadows are obviously painted in darker shades, and the darkest areas are approaching blue in tone. The highlights on the face, on the other hand, near white, serving to create a broad range in skin tones. What strikes me about this way of painting is that despite the fact that Freud is painting segments at a time, Queen Elizabeth's face is still very identifiable, not just because she's wearing a crown.
Freud's choice in terms of composition is also very interesting. He placed Queen Elizabeth in the very middle of the 9 inch by 6 inch canvas, much in the same way that headshots or school portraits are done. Adding the basic background gives this painting a more official feel, as it places the emphasis on the subject matter and nothing else.
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