22/02/15 Analysis of "Jah Wolfe" 1990 by Judy Ann MacMillan (Oil on canvas)

MacMillan was born on December 3^rd, 1945 in St. Andrew, Jamaica. This is relevant to my study as my heritage resides from the Caribbean islands of Jamaica and Barbados. At age 16, she was sent to study at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, Scotland. At the age of 21, she hosted her own art exhibition at her home. The first artist she first set eyes on was Van Gogh, particularly with his “Starry Night”. She seen how the piece was unusual, but not abstract, and shown Gogh’s own interpretation of what he was witnessing, which was what she aimed to do in her work.

The mediums MacMillan used most commonly was oil on canvas. She continuously shows observational techniques and makes sure all her paintings show realism. However, as shown in the painting above, she focuses the attention on curtain objects or features in her pieces by not painting the other parts as detailed or not painting them at all. Instead she uses expresses line and marks in complimenting colours as perhaps an extension to what she                                                                            is showing.

The key concept behind her work is showing people the true background of Jamaica and the raw origins of the people who make up the population. Most people just see Jamaica as a beautiful, sunny retreat/landscape whereas she tries to capture the pure culture and atmosphere of the island. This is extremely meaningful to me as I want to give a message through my work that Rastafarianism is not just about Bob Marley and “Red, Gold and Green” but is a cultural religion which tells a story on how most people’s ancestors survived and travelled. Rastafarianism is the story of pain and purity of the people who got us where we are today. I will be using these colours in my work but I aim to draw attention to the religious symbols most of all.

“Jah Wollfe” has an extremely natural and earthy feel to it. The background of browns and mossy greens makes it look inspired by natural forms and a time where people lived off the earth. The figure in the painting is named “Jah” to show honour and dedication to his god. His head is raised slightly to show pride making him look like a person of authority and power. His long, matted dreadlocks are white with age showing he is one of the many ‘fathers’ of the island. He looks extremely wise and perhaps is an extremely religious figure as dreadlock in Jamaica symbolise a strong dedication to Rastafarianism. He looks as if he is studying or judging the person he is looking at. Perhaps MacMillan has captured this on purpose to make the viewer feel intimidated by him, or feel inferior to him.  To me this figure looks like someone I would instinctively look up to. MacMillan has chosen to show him as God-like as she has emphasised the light that is reflecting off his face is from directly above, like a spotlight.

MacMillan’s use of form and colour is interesting as she has inspired this painting by a natural element, earth, and by using these browns and various skin colours it make the piece looks aboriginal. I admire that she has chosen not to paint the man’s surroundings as this strongly draws my attention to him. Alike a painting of a religious figure, the focus is in just his face and hair and not his body. Just the slight angle of his raised head immediately adds power to the painting.

I believe this painting has been created for the artists own interest and education. I believe it was a journey for her to find out about the Rastafarian culture and to show what she had found out about it and how she could share this most effectively. As stated in her book “My Jamaica”, “MacMillan is fascinated by the Rastafarian cult, which is a typical feature of Jamaican culture. The two portraits of men with long dreadlocks are likenesses of members of the cult.”

I am greatly influence by this artists work as I can connect with her on the level that I initially hoped to show realistic observational paintings of the Rastafarian culture and to give a message through my work that there are raw and inspiring meanings to the culture and how people should avoid the ignorant stereotypes. 

15/02/15 Leicester's Caribbean Carnival

In August 2014, I visited the annual Caribbean Carnival in Leicester as I do every year. As seen in the videos, it was dedicated to Nelson Mandela as he passed away earlier that year. The music played at the carnival strongly represents how I would like to influence my art and the costume could be interpreted into the figures I wish to include. I adore the upbeat calypso atmosphere which is a key aspect of rastafarianism. The music represents the celebration of being freed from slavery and discrimination. Lots of green and yellow is worn by the dancers which represents the African and Jamaican flags and also are extravagant and eye-catching colours.

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12/02/15 Ikahl Beckford

Whilst researching Caribbean art, I stumbled across a new artist I had not heard of before, Ikahl Beckford. He was born in Jamaica but currently resides in New York. I find his work very interesting as he varies the materials he uses to create his compositions and they all look and feel very different. As seen in his pieces "Sister Act" and "Tree of life", the sense of motion and movement in his work is strongly influenced by reggae music, which I hope to achieve in my work.

All images taken from: http://www.magnoliabox.com/artist/6388/ikahl-beckford



"Tree of life" 1988, pencil on paper

"Father and son" 2003, oil on canvas



"UNTITLED" 2006, mixed media

"River of Babylon" oil on canvas

"Sister act" 2002, acrylic on canvas





10/02/15 Judy Ann MacMillan

I have found a new artist book called 'My Jamaica' by Judy Ann MacMillan. She was born in Kingston, Jamaica and gained a Diploma of Art in Scotland. She enjoyed capturing the landscapes close to her island home but also shown a strong interest in showing the people of Jamaica. Within the book, it states "The images show the inner strength of Jamaican women as well as their beauty."  About men it states "MacMillan is fascinated by the Rastafarian cult, which is a typical feature of Jamaican culture. The two portraits of men with long dreadlocks are likenesses of members of the cult."

This artist's work strongly relates to the work I would like to do. Although my heritage is from Barbados, this is a close island to Jamaica and shares mostly the same traits, including Rastafarianism as the most influenced religion. All images from "My Jamaica" by Judy Ann MacMillan.

"Winston" Painted in 1993.
MacMillan says, "A rare experience and a blissful one - painted alla prima without a break in concentration or need to correct or repaint."



"Study for Winston 2" Painted in 1993.
MacMillan says, "This was the second study of Winston's face and the best one. I had earned the sitter's trust - an important step towards the final portrait in oil."



"Jah Wolfe" Painted in 1990.
MacMillan says, "Jah Wolfe was at the time a return to first impulses - very close to the heart of what made me paint in the first place. Although the yard with its smoke and its sounds is not shown, being there was an intrinsic part of the experience for me."



"Cedella Booker (Mother of Bob Marley)" Painted in 1994.
MacMillan says, "Although tired after drawing all day, when we met I found a fresh burst of energy in Cedella Booker's luminous company and took the opportunity to draw this example of one of the island's many great mothers."

09/02/15 Rope Studies

As I do not longer want to continue with the "caricature" idea and have chosen to do rastafarian portraiture, I have had to look for things that can resemble their feature. I found some thin and thick rope in the studio that, when drawn in black and white, can clearly resemble dreadlocks. Dreadlocks are extremely important in my work as, alike to Sikhs with the silver bangle, the longer dreadlocks you have, the more devoted you are to the religion.

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05/02/2015

We were given the option on what object we was going draw next. I chose the doll as the face is animated and unrealistic and I hope to interpret caricature figures into my work at time point as rastafarian African art tends to focus around exaggerated features and postures. I tried using pencil, brio and charcoal but I think next time I will try using acrylic or emulsion to add colour.

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05/02/2015 Continued Sketches

Today we have continued with the same technique of timed observational sketches, but this time we began doing so from different angles. My next aim was to incorporate different mediums into my experiments.

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03/02/2015 First Art 2 Lesson

During the first lesson, alike the beginning of the year, we experimented with timed observational sketches. As I have chosen the exam question, "celebrating heritage", out of the objects on the table the bone represented what I wanted to show most. This is so because bones can show represent ancestry and from my culture, my ancestors used bones to create most everyday objects and art work.

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