I’ve been posting drawings with hands as expressive elements. Today a work by Prinston Nnanna appeared in my inbox. Prinston is a Brooklyn-based artist who works with charcoal, coffee, and acrylic inks. According to his website, his goal is to “depict the elegance of the Black figure at the same time as reconstructing the image in which society has painted people of colour.”
Prinston Nnanna ‘‘Invisibility Cloak’’ (Something For My Niece’s to Look After), 2020 Charcoal, acrylic, ink, gouache, glitter, clear and gloss medium on hand toned paper 69 1/2 × 44 in
Nnanna’s painting reminds of a few other paintings you might recognize. The first is Klimt’s painting “The Kiss” or “Lovers” of which the full composition is this:
…but Klimt’s painting is often cropped and saturated, so we often see it like this, which more closely resembles Nnanna’s painting:
The heads and hands appear as cut out pieces of a drawing, while the fabric is a flat geometric pattern, similar to Klimt’s.
Nnanna’s figures are separated from the monochromatic background and fabric by their smooth grey shading, tones that talk not just about skin color, but also about drawing and painting as a craft. As I’m sure you know, hands and faces take some skill to create. (We have a class or two that will teach you.) The quilt, suggestive of folkart patterns, has been all but flattened into an abstract mountain shape, upon which the pieces of the figure’s head and arms emerge. The shape upon which perch this disembodied head and arms reminds me of the portrait of Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald. In this, it is as if one of the artist’s tools was scissors.
Amy Sherald’s “Michelle Obama” (cropped)
Taking another look at the artwork, I see there is a delicate halo around the figure’s head, referencing Byzantine Madonna and child icons, and Barkley L. Hendricks’ painting Lawdy Mama from 1969. (Thank you to Suzanne Walker, the League’s Art Historian for remembering the names and references I had forgotten.)
Byzantine Madonna and child; Berlinghiero BerlinghieriBarkley L. Hendricks Lawdy Mama, 1969
Speaking of scissors, there might even be a piece of Romare Bearden’s collages in the way odd pieces peek out from the blanket.
Romare Bearden
I found Prinston has done a handsome collection of portraits. I won’t be able to post them all, but you can find them on his website.
Related Classes
Expressive Portraits starts 9/18
WTF Art History: Revenge of the Figure Painters starts 9/22
I’ve been watching episodes of The Great Pottery Throw Down. I hadn’t previously considered ceramics as a spectator sport, but it’s crazy fun to watch people make pottery! In every episode, amature potters respond to a wide variety of maker challenges. Some are races against the clock, some push contestants to go out on a …
Keith Pfeiffer trained as an illustrator, and recently decided to jump over the fence to be a professional fine artist. His observation based drawings are finely tuned and skillfully rendered, with a focus on line and tone. His sketches are posted on Instagram for very affordable prices. We had just hired him at the League …
Welcome back to the 30SAL challenge! You can do this! Our 30 creative challenges are categorized by type: SUNDAY: Observation MONDAY: Composition TUESDAY: Sequence WEDNESDAY: See & Respond THURSDAY: Vocab FRIDAY: Transcribe SATURDAY: Wild Card Today is a SEQUENCE challenge: Document a day in the life of a _____. Media is artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, …
Today is the Memory/Imagination day of our 30 Day Creative Challenge. Look at “The Desperate Man” by Gustave Courbet. Your challenge today is to imagine what he’s looking at, and recreate that. Medium is artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, collage, assemblage, assemble a diorama, or dress in drag. Set a timer for 20 minutes. When the timer chimes, continue if you wish, …
Drawing Hands: Prinston Nnanna
I’ve been posting drawings with hands as expressive elements. Today a work by Prinston Nnanna appeared in my inbox. Prinston is a Brooklyn-based artist who works with charcoal, coffee, and acrylic inks. According to his website, his goal is to “depict the elegance of the Black figure at the same time as reconstructing the image in which society has painted people of colour.”
Charcoal, acrylic, ink, gouache, glitter, clear and gloss medium on hand toned paper
69 1/2 × 44 in
Nnanna’s painting reminds of a few other paintings you might recognize. The first is Klimt’s painting “The Kiss” or “Lovers” of which the full composition is this:
…but Klimt’s painting is often cropped and saturated, so we often see it like this, which more closely resembles Nnanna’s painting:
The heads and hands appear as cut out pieces of a drawing, while the fabric is a flat geometric pattern, similar to Klimt’s.
Nnanna’s figures are separated from the monochromatic background and fabric by their smooth grey shading, tones that talk not just about skin color, but also about drawing and painting as a craft. As I’m sure you know, hands and faces take some skill to create. (We have a class or two that will teach you.) The quilt, suggestive of folkart patterns, has been all but flattened into an abstract mountain shape, upon which the pieces of the figure’s head and arms emerge. The shape upon which perch this disembodied head and arms reminds me of the portrait of Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald. In this, it is as if one of the artist’s tools was scissors.
Taking another look at the artwork, I see there is a delicate halo around the figure’s head, referencing Byzantine Madonna and child icons, and Barkley L. Hendricks’ painting Lawdy Mama from 1969. (Thank you to Suzanne Walker, the League’s Art Historian for remembering the names and references I had forgotten.)
Speaking of scissors, there might even be a piece of Romare Bearden’s collages in the way odd pieces peek out from the blanket.
I found Prinston has done a handsome collection of portraits. I won’t be able to post them all, but you can find them on his website.
Related Classes
Expressive Portraits starts 9/18
WTF Art History: Revenge of the Figure Painters starts 9/22
Head & Hands starts 9/25
Beginning Figure Drawing starts 9/30
Woodblock Portraits starts 10/19
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The Great Pottery Throw Down
I’ve been watching episodes of The Great Pottery Throw Down. I hadn’t previously considered ceramics as a spectator sport, but it’s crazy fun to watch people make pottery! In every episode, amature potters respond to a wide variety of maker challenges. Some are races against the clock, some push contestants to go out on a …
Keith Pfeiffer: Drawings
Keith Pfeiffer trained as an illustrator, and recently decided to jump over the fence to be a professional fine artist. His observation based drawings are finely tuned and skillfully rendered, with a focus on line and tone. His sketches are posted on Instagram for very affordable prices. We had just hired him at the League …
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