The background of your portrait should be In

The background of your portrait…. should be: • In color (at least two) • • Patterned – similar to fabric – reminiscent of Kehinde Wiley’s portraits. Expressive of or related to the artist’s personality or alter-ego. Mrs. Siddons, 2012 Oil on linen 72" x 60"

(From his artist statement – www. kehindewiley. com) Los Angeles native and New York based visual artist, Kehinde Wiley has firmly situated himself within art history’s portrait painting tradition. As a contemporary descendent of a long line of portraitists, including Reynolds, Gainsborough, Titian, Ingres, among others, Wiley, engages the signs and visual rhetoric of the heroic, powerful, majestic and the sublime in his representation of urban, black and brown men found throughout the world.

Basically, Wiley reproduces classic portraits – replacing the subjects of the paintings with young black men he meets on the street. He often replaces the backgrounds of these images with tapestry-like patterns. Equestrian Portrait of the Count-Duke Olivares, 2005 Oil on canvas 108" x 108" NOTE: he also uses the title of the original painting he’s reproducing…

Ø What are some things you notice about these backgrounds? Ø How do they relate to the people depicted in the portrait? Barthélémy Toguo, 2012 Oil on canvas 22 " x 18"

Mizrah, 2011 Oil on canvas 36" x 48" Leviathan Zodiac, 2011 Oil and gold enamel on canvas 95. 75" x 71. 75"

Jonaton Schimitt Barcellos, 2008 Oil on canvas 48" x 36" Mary Litte, Later Lady Carr, 2012 Oil on canvas 30" x 24"

You may have noticed that the patterns in the background often overlap the people in the portrait. Ø What can you do to relate the pattern to the image you’re trying to portray? Ø What can you depict in that pattern – what objects, shapes and colors can you use – to add meaning to your portrait? Puma World Cup Africa Collaboration Samuel Eto'o, 2010 Oil on canvas 72" x 60"

Many of you asked about drawing hoods… Head of a Young Girl Veiled Study, 2010 Oil on paper 40" x 26. 5" Ivelaw Study, 2010 Oil on paper 53" x 40"

Not all of Wiley’s portraits have fabric-like patterns in the background. Making a simplified, patterned background will help you focus on putting more detailed effort into your portrait. If you wanted to turn this background landscape into a fabric pattern, what objects, shapes and colors might you use? How would you simplify the objects (into outlines or solid shapes) to repeat them in a pattern? Equestrian Portrait of King Philip II (Michael Jackson), 2010 Oil on canvas 128" x 112"