September 30, 2014 - 20:55
I was drawn to Beverly McIver's portrait of her sister, Renee. She demonstrates how much she cares for her sister in the attention to detail and expression she conveys. McIver seems to have used oil paint in this portrait, which has allowed her to layer color on top of color -- the main appeal of the portrait.
Like RGT's notion of a frame of honor (27), Renee is framed by a golden background, that not only makes the viewer think of sunshine, but also gives an air of royalty to the subject, highlighting her skin and contrasting well with her also regal purple shirt. Further, Renee seems to be one with the background -- her shoulder fades into the frame. McIver doesn't include a lot of her subject's body, but the feeling of her pose, indicated by her open shoulders and expressive facial expression demonstrate that she seems inspired or fascinated by the viewer.
I love how this portrait is composed! Renee is facing slightly away from the viewer, with her head slightly turned, located off center, towards the right. The texture of color on Renee's face catches the viewer's eye first, drawing our eye around the whole of it in a waterfall-like pattern that slides down onto Renee's right shoulder, which is more exposed than her left. Her stance -- slightly turned; her face -- off-center; and the unevenness of her shirt seem to demonstrate that she's not a simple person who's easily understood, maybe her personality isn't quite symmetrical.
McIver's use of color is likely my favorite aspect of this portrait. She uses pinks, whites, yellows, oranges, purples, and blues to highlight the curvature of her subject's face, demonstrating her expression. These colors point out where the shadows fall and bring a certain loudness to the subject's face.
The subject's gaze is hard to interpret. She seems to have dark shadows under her eyes and lines that frame her upturned eyebrows. This could be interpreted as surprise, surliness, or amusement. Further, Renee's eyes don't seem to be focusing on the same place, which gives her the effect of looking past the viewer.
This portrait makes me wonder how Renee is feeling. I would like to know more about her relationship with Beverly and whether Beverly sees any of herself -- personality or features -- that mimic her sister's.