The Unconventional Portrait

Chakraphand Posayakrit

Friends (1969) by Chakrabhand PosayakritArt Centre Silpakorn University

At first glance, Chakraphand Posayakrit’s painting looks just like a simple, realist portrait. However, upon closer inspection, the overall atmosphere of the picture is entirely different from conventional portraits. 

This seemingly realist painting is reimagined with the artist’s individual use of colour. 

The artist places importance on contexts and surroundings. Small details in harmony with fine art techniques render the simple painting extraordinary. 

The painting is not simply a portrait of people; however, it shows the artist perspectives on the people.

Though it is a portrait of people in varying postures, it is hidden with connotations, with the composition technique that harmoniously blends different elements of the work, including the most prominent and the second most prominent point and different postures of people. 

Shadow and light are not arranged in the same direction in the painting. Though the direction of light is clearly divided into two sides, it coexists in harmony in a way that makes the painting appealing.

Though the focal point of the picture is not placed in the foreground, the use of the lightest colour tone is selected to highlight the figure of a young female in the middle while the table perfectly directs our eyes to the middle of the picture.

The standing man in the background is given lesser light. The colour tone similar to that of the background is chosen, rendering the distance farther. The same technique is applied to a man sitting in the farthest back on the right.
 

The artist chooses the red tone for the sitting man in the foreground, a point that renders the work stand out.

The artist wants to convey his personality and emotions through colour scheme, facial expression and posture. This purpose is achieved by his smart choice of colours which strongly contrast each others, his red complexion and his green shirt.

The artist makes use of bright, complementary colours for each person’s skin. The colour tone for details of garments and hairs strongly contrasts with that of the overall atmosphere. 

However, he is able to make people’s skin looks so real. 

Irrefutably, one of the most remarkable points of the painting is its outstanding colour tone. 

The artist makes use of clean paint brushes which help to preserve and bring out the clarity of the texture of each colour.

This influences the way in which we see the overall picture in terms of light, atmosphere and dimension.

The eyes of six people stare at the same direction, which functions like a linking point of the picture that is communicating with the audience.

The personality of each person is conveyed through facial expressions and postures. 

The artist wants to show the personality of each person that is so similar and different at the same time.
 

Emotional expressions of each person is distinctively rendered through the body of the painting and through processes that challenge conventional fine art theories concerning portraits. 

Chakraphand Posayakrit is another artist whose corpus is exceptional, especially in terms of his meticulousness in using colour and light. His work is filled with liveliness and emotions that are charmingly expressed. 

Credits: Story

This artwork is a part of Silpakorn Art Collections, which are award-winning works from the National Exhibition of Art and Exhibition of Contemporary Art by Young Artists. They are under the care and the management of Art Centre Silpakorn University.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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