White emulsion and graphite

White emulsion and graphite on coffee stained paper influenced by Tamara de Lempicka. I completed this piece whilst developing ideas for my project titled Concealed and Revealed. Whilst it is not completed in full, my project focused on solely on the face. 

Tamara de Lempicka's work includes a lot of harsh shadows and highlights which are often glamourised. With my work I focused more on the harsh shadows than the glamour of her art. The brief for the piece was to use emulsion for the light areas and highlights and then graphite to create areas of darkness and shadow. My use of light and dark, whilst drastic is of a similar style to this artist and her influence is evident within the piece. 

The white emulsion paint created a interesting surface on top of the coffee stained paper as it really helped it to stand out. Due to the thickness of the paint there are clear brushstrokes which create an added depth to the piece as well as a great texture. The texture was a challenge to work with as it was quite difficult to blend with the graphite, however instead of this being a problem it helped to further the style similar to Lempicka, putting more emphasis on the shadows, showing a clear contrast between the lights and darks.