All truths wait in all things,
They neither hasten their own delivery nor resist it,
They do not need the obstetric forceps of the surgeon,
The insignificant is as big to me as any,
What is less or more than a touch?
Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
Portrait of a Poet
One of the most prolific American writers to have existed, Walt Whitman had a mind the processed experience in a different way than many of his contemporaries. He was able to thread words into fluid streams of consciousness that resonated with millions of readers in a way that felt very organic and almost mystic-like. He is a master of observations, of interpretation. He is a great painter of words.
In a very real way, Whitman was as skilled at observation as any excellent painter of the time. He was able to interpret the raw flux of his surroundings...organize and interpret, then present an orchestral response in words. Reading his poetry is like breathing his breaths.
Painters like John Singer Sargent and Thomas Eakins were also fixated on the observations and analysis of the present.
They spent hours of times preparing to present figures in realistic yet stylized paintings that 'take place' in a single moment and try to imitate the presence of the viewer. I have witnessed the compelling emotion and atmosphere of a moment in a painting, where the air in the painting seems breathable like the words on paper do in Walt Whitman's poetry like Song of Myself.
Thomas Eakins Study
Painting portraits is a challenging subject matter that spans the history of humankind, a history that I'd rather not delve into. When I am able to encourage myself to try at another portrait, I have difficulty in some very understandable tasks involved in recreating a face. Difficulties that reflects the same challenge found in the thousands of years of past portraiture study.
By copying directly from a successful painting by a great artist, I hope to practice and learn more about presenting a portrait in paint. Suspending the colors convincingly and making the light seem existent within the painting comes with a lot of practice. This is my first attempt, a study of Thomas Eakins' Portrait of Walt Whitman, 1887-88.
This painting, done in a 4-hour session , is decent, but not something I am particularly proud of but has been an informative study.
