Drawings | Large Portrait

I began drawing portraits using colored pencil and oil pastel on black paper in 1983. I was affected by the color and shapes as they appeared from the blackness of the material I was working on. I focused on the straightforward portrait and used a combination of colors that at first could subconsciously appear unsettling, but are actually harmonious. I also began an on-going series of portraits with matches floating in front. I wanted to hide the face from the viewer with a forest of objects that would sandwich the figure between the foreground and background.