Matti Paints - Subject Erin

So Erin's portrait is a bit of a happy coincidence. She was in the neighbourhood as I was painting ANGELA and JORDAN, strangely enough over with LIBBY and CASSIE since we all live in the same area,  and just decided to hit me up to see what I was doing. When I offered her the chance to be a part of the project she jumped at the opportunity. Literally. Look how enthused she looks in her before picture.

Look Matti. Look how enthused I am.

Erin, if you haven't guess already, is another friend from North Bay. She is the SOLE reason I passed history of drama my second year at Nipissing. She is also one of the smartest people I know.
Seriously. Her mind is so sharp it could cut someone. In fact it has cut me several times. She is someone I owe much to, and I don't even think she realizes the incredible impact she has had on my life.
Seriously. This girl is the reason I passed my second year of university.
This is not the first time I've got to artistically work with Erin. A couple years ago she was involved in my production of Love*Fool where she played the ever frantic and unnerved Peter Quince. Strange enough I have a hunch her character choices might have been based on me a bit...
(Me? Frantic? Never! Anyway...)
I was super happy with her colour choices EVEN THOUGH they were WAY outside my comfort zone. Red, purple, tan, brown and silver. After about three lines with Erin she told me she expected me to have difficulty with them.
Thanks Erin. Thanks a lot for that.
but in the end I really liked the direction it ended up. I find lately I've been getting a lot of earthy colours. Perhaps it is the season but it really is turning into a theme lately.
The painting session was relaxing and enjoyable, despite the fact that Angela and Jordan were hanging around when we were painting. There was a bit of a time constraint but I really didn't feel any pressure while we were painting. We were just hanging out. And I just happened to be painting her.
That's normal right?
In the end, I found a picture that I felt truly captured the spirited, amazing person that Erin is. I love it.
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Matti Paints- Subject Marc

After all that chaos came Marc.

Marc is a curious character. I know him from the coffee shop, and while I'd never say we were close, he always had a magnetic quality that I really liked and appreciated in him. He seemed really down to earth, and now after painting him, I quickly realized that it's not just a show. He really is just that down to earth. It's refreshing to meet people with a similar character to yours.
He's a very creative man, and the talks we had during the paint were interesting and surprisingly deep. I found with Marc, unlike a lot of the previous canvases, I found myself opening up more. It's not that my other conversations were hesitant or unwilling, I feel there was just an ease about this entire experience that I almost found refreshing.
I've done quite a few of these by now, and I found with Marc I almost fell into a routine. Offer a drink, pick the seat, get them comfortable, and so on and so forth. It's a nice change to feel so at ease with someone so quickly, but I found the talk came easily and the experience was quite enjoyable and friendly.

All about the earthy tones

I feel his colour choices reflected this nicely. Lots of subtle earthy colours that reflected his personality nicely. The green, reds and brown blended nicely with the blue and the gold gave it just enough pop without turning into a flashy mess.
His song choices while some might say leaned slightly on the emo side, were something I'd consider more pensive. It really showed a depth of character, especially when we'd had a lot of deep interesting talks throughout the piece. Every song seemed to bring up a new emotion and a new side of Marc. I enjoyed getting to know his multi-faceted personality.

Emo is Owl City

I found myself working with a symbol for the first time. Within the first few red brushstrokes I quickly realized I accidentally painted a maple leaf on his chest. Almost super hero like emblazed on his chest. I went with it, and soon also found that the ab section became something like a tree with roots reaching deep into the earth for sustenance.

Accidental maple leaf!

It was a really great experience. I thoroughly enjoyed Marc's company and think that I managed to create something really special.
So without further ado: Marc!

Matti Paints- Subject Georgia

This is my fabulous friend Georgia

She is fantastic. I love her. We've been friends for years ever since we were both going to school in North Bay as part of Canadore's theatre program. I knew if there was any woman who would be excited to do this project, it would probably be her.

I've drawn Georgia before, but this was my first time painting her in this way, and I have to say I think the experience was one of my favorites. Her song choices were interesting, and interestingly contrasted almost perfectly with her colour choices. While the colours were simple and bright, the songs were heavier and almost melancholic. In retrospect I'm surprised that they didn't have much more impact on the experience. I'm not sure why a heavy playlist played so heavily with our emotions when I painted Mark, and for this time to be so much more light hearted and whimsical. Maybe its our previous relationships, maybe it's that she's a girl, or maybe it's because of our shared experiences in the frozen North but this time there was something really light hearted about the whole experience.

The pink stands for "drag queen"

I was very impressed with Georgia's lack of inhibitions. So far she has been the only female to go nude and it's a very brave choice. It takes about a minute to be comfortable with each other when you're fully exposed, but it was a good experience none-the-less. Once we warmed up we found ourselves laughing and joking about the entire experience. There was something just... fun about it.

I'm really proud of her, and I  believe that we managed to create something magical.
I have to say there was something to be said for the simplicity of this piece. It's to the point, gentle, and I have to say has an air of beauty to it. I'm quite proud of this one as I feel it makes her look almost like a fish. I mean that in the best way.