While working on a recent portrait, Marc mused “I’m still not sure what to do with the background.”
With portraits, perhaps more than any other subject, the background can have tremendous effect. It impacts the colour and value balance of course, and this is motivation enough, however I think that there’s more to it than that. The colour affects the overall feel and impression of the person, creates an ambience for the viewer and projects something that I’d be challenged to describe. Some people talk about colour auras, and certainly colour is deeply seated in our psyche. That said, the choice perhaps emanates as much from the painter as the subject.
Here are a few pointers to keep in mind:
- Any colour can work…cool will distance itself from the actual portrait….. warm will “push” the portait forward – literally banging on the back of the head;
- Tonal is safer than chromatic… there’s a lot of colour in skin and a high chroma background can compete;
- Simple is likewise more straightforward. A busy background, unless there’s a message itself in the motif…will distract the viewer;
- Brushwork should not compete with the subject. That does not mean that it needs to be boring, just thought of as a “frame” for the subject;
- Don’t forget the colour of the clothes too….it all has to fit together!
After all that, go with your intuition: as Chagal once commented: “If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.”