Matti Paints - Chris and Alex

Some of you might recognize Alex. And as a result I imagine you will probably recognize his brother Chris. 
Yes, I got a pair of twins to do this project.

I was quite excited at this prospect. Not just because of the fact that I love Alex and Chris to bits, but also because I was so fascinated to paint them. I wondered how different they would end up looking. Would it effect the outcome? Would I even be able to tell them apart at the end?
The task was simple and exciting so when Alex suggested it, I jumped at the chance and began to formulate a plan.
I was also curious to see how Alex would turn out again. He's the first person other than myself who I've now got to paint more than once. I was curious to see what would change about the painting. Would the painting be the same? Would there be emerging patterns? Exactly how much of the art is driven by the circumstances and how much is situational? How much of the person am I really capturing?
It was a daunting but exciting challenge and I couldn't wait to start.
About an hour before we started, I got a call from Alex telling me that him and Chris had got in a fight and he wasn't sure he could go through with it.
Excellent, I thought. An added level of tension. I was getting really excited to paint at this point.
For a million different reasons I could've taken any part of this and turned it into a painting. Anger. Brothers. Twins. It was an exciting prospect and just getting better.

In the end, I liked the palate they chose. I felt the music and colours really reflected who they were. Alex, the slightly more uptempo one, and Chris the one who is slightly more serious and natural one.
Around song 8, I was running out of paint and so I ended up thinning the paint I had left considerably and working with them in much sheerer coats. As a result they both look a lot more natural than some of my other ones and a part of me really likes that about the image.
They both look like brothers still. They share the same dark eyes and cheeky smirk, but each is reflected with their own character. Chris slightly more sophisticated, Alex, a bit more structured. Or maybe they're reflecting each other's characters just a little bit too well.
In the end I was thrilled at the experience and would gladly paint them again if given the opportunity.

Matti Paints - Subject Chris

Painting Chris was a great experience. Hopefully for both of us.

Pictured: Adorable.

As new friends we’re not super familiar with each other, but I have an incredible admiration of his talent and abilities. We met at an open mike that I regularly attend and have been talking for quite a while now, so when I confronted him about the project he was reluctant at first, but I’m really glad he decided to be a part of it. I could tell from the beginning that he was nervous so I did my best to make him comfortable.
The colours he chose were perfectly within my comfort zone of purple and blue, with white. The gold complimented it well and the green is a colour I’m slowly getting more familiar with the more people I paint.

The difficult green... Kermit Green if you will. It's not easy...

I knew we had a connection when he looked through my musical and elicited multiple squeals of glee. However, his song choice was ultimately hinting at what I had suspected.

Not Pictured: Squeals of delight and dancing

I think we all suffer from body issues. I know I have. I feel most people have, especially when it comes to how we think we should look and how we feel about how we look now. I like to think that I’ve resolved all these issues but I think the more canvases I do, the more I’m realizing how much this is still an issue, not just for me, but for everyone.
I explained before about the intimacy of this experience before, but I think after painting Chris, it really hits home. He allowed himself to expose his deepest fears to me, to allow me to create them into something beautiful.
There were a lot of songs focusing on image in his playlist which is perhaps what brought these thoughts to the surface. Maybe I’m just looking too much into this, but it seems the more people I get to paint, the more appreciative I am to be able to do this.
I’m painting people insecurities on their skin and then putting them on display for the world to see. It’s a scary procedure for anyone and there were points where Chris was literally holding onto me for support. I could not be more proud of him for allowing me to do this with him. It was a very magical experience. 

 

Presenting Chris: