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12 Men

This was one of the first projects where I really explored the possiblities mixed media digital printing offered. These twelve faces were printed on pellon which had a raised texture made from acrylic modeling paste.

I'm always amazed at how human faces all have the same features and yet all look so different. Intially I began my exploration of mixed media digital by asking a few friends to model for me and I went from quickly done charcoal drawings to complex, expressionistic renderings of faces. As the process developed, I decided to focus the project on middle-aged men. I'm middle aged and am acutely aware of the changes - good and bad - brought about by ageing.

Once the parameters of the journey were established - charcoal drawings, intense colour, patterns, faces, printing on pellon - I began to explore. Each piece offered a different launching point. Each face is made of different shapes and those shapes invited me to try a variety of visual experiments. The mixed media printing offered a greater visual depth to the images.