Week #46, Portraits II

Portrait of William Richards, c. 1945, watercolor on paper, 16" x 11 ¾”.

Portrait of William Richards, c. 1945, watercolor on paper, 16" x 11 ¾”.

Last week’s two portrait drawings by Dusti Bongé featured a man who was not specifically identified by her. However, I had mentioned that they had a family resemblance to another couple of portraits, to wit, these that we present to you this week. They all present the same elongated, thin face, with its distinctive bone structure and striking nose. But instead of quick studies drawn in ink, these two are much more complete and colorful portraits executed in watercolor.

Like the almost identical looking couple of portrait drawings last week, these two are also very similar looking representations of a gentleman named William Richards. And like last week’s portraits, they present the subject in partial profile, with his head partly turned away, and looking downward toward the left.

These watercolor are both rendered in a limited color palette with the same basic hues. The dominating colors are reds and yellows, and the range of hues in between, with varying amounts of black in the background. However, the first portrait has a more lightly tinted, and hence more subtle overall quality, while the second one is clearly harsher in tone.

Compositionally there are also some distinctions. In the first one, Mr. Richards’ head is kind of floating in a background of varying shades of gray, surrounded by a few patterns and swirling lines and some black shadows. His hair is highly delineated, and his brow is cast in a golden yellow glow. In the second, his head fills almost the entire space, he has an unusual patterned halo around his hair which is set against a mostly black background, his hair is smooth and shiny, and there are more shadows in his face.

These tonal and compositional differences make that the first portrait presents a more gentle overall image of the subject where the second offers a much more severe visage. In both versions Mr. Richards appears to be wearing a monocle in his right eye while his other eye is not indicated at all. This in contrast to last week’s portraits with the solid black circles, which although rather large, did not suggest monocles, but rather, exaggerated pupils. (See below).