No Blending / Transitional Shading (2025)

This study was created as a technical and emotional exercise — an intentional refusal of polish. Working without blending forced an immediacy that revealed the raw structure of light and form. Rather than concealing the brushwork, I allowed it to remain visible, treating each stroke as both mark and meaning.

The resulting image hovers between solidity and disintegration. The face emerges from darkness yet never fully arrives; it feels sculpted rather than painted, like clay under shifting illumination. The absence of eyes adds to this sense of incompletion — a portrait in suspension, more about the act of building identity than depicting it.

This piece became a study not only of anatomy, but of discipline — how much can be conveyed through tone, weight, and rhythm before realism intrudes. It sits within my wider exploration of chiaroscuro and emotional tension, where light functions less as description and more as revelation.
Painted digitally in a limited palette of warm ochres and umbers, Head & Brushstroke Study was executed using broad, opaque strokes applied without smudging or soft transitions. The intention was to simulate the immediacy of alla prima painting while retaining digital control over tone. The absence of blending reveals underlying structure — every brushmark remains visible, creating a sculptural texture that emphasises form through economy.