Hunk Back Male, 12x12 inches oil on canvas panel by Kenney Mencher
Hunk Back Male, 12x12 inches oil on canvas panel by Kenney Mencher
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THIS IS AN ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING
I like puns and so the title is a bit of a play on the “hump back whale.” I also like comic books.
This is the second painting of a man who looked to me a bit like Wilson Fisk (the Kingpin) from Daredevil comic book fame. I think that the Kingpin was sexier than the Daredevil.
Sometimes the fight scenes in comic books look more like erotic wrestling to me than battles.
I am a bit of a comic book nerd. When I was a kid, I would lay around my friends’ bedroom looking at comic books and eating up the images of heroic powerful men in form fitting costumes, but I remember being a bit confused when it got to the Daredevil comic book. Yeah, Daredevil was pretty cool but I found I had a strange obsession when it came to his rival Wilson Fisk aka “Kingpin.” Somehow, for me, he was possibly even more compelling a character and, maybe even more sympathetic, because he didn’t fit the mold of an unsympathetic character. One part for me was that Daredevil looked a bit like an underfed prancing acrobat when confronted with the Kingpin’s large masculine appearance. I never quite understood how the Daredevil would even be able to vanquish him in a fight. They almost seemed to be dancing and embracing rather than fighting.
This male portrait of a very masculine man is an original painting. I mainly make art about gay bears and other types of art for the queer community. A lot of my art revolves around the portrayal of heroic older bearish or bullish men. In my paintings I'm trying to communicate about body positivity and the beauty of the heroic male "bear."
Many straight folks are unaware of the bear subculture. Hardly a surprise, since a powerful majority rarely concerns itself with the doings of a marginalized minority. When, three or four years ago, I first mentioned bears to my straight friends, none of them knew what I was talking about, though by now at least one of them calls me “The Bear.” Similarly, my heterosexual students, as expert as they might be on current media, seem equally ignorant about this topic.
This portrait of was painted in the alla prima method. Alla prima, also called “wet-on-wet” and “direct painting,” is a very popular method of painting in which the artist applies paint to the canvas essentially in one sitting (“alla prima” is an Italian phrase that translates to “at once”). Usually this means that I even do the drawing with a brush in paint but in this instance, I did a quick sketch with a crayon to get the drawing and proportions correct.
Alla prima allows an overall command of the whole picture because everything is being painted ‘all at once’ in the same session. It calls for virtuoso handling of the material – a boldness that can bring out an inspired response.
The main focus of alla prima is edges: soft, blended ones contrasted with those sharply defined. However, being able to control these edges and the way the paint mixes require preparation of colors and a decisive handling of the material.
The composition of this painting is based on a principle called the “rule of thirds” in which the focus or emphasis of the painting is brought off center so it is a bit more interesting. In this painting you’ll see that the smoker’s head is in the upper right quarter of the image rather than dead center. I also thought that the asymmetrical quality of the composition made this painting have a better flow.
I’ve also attempted to use thick quick calligraphic brushwork to make the textures more engaging and descriptive. I use different textures and brushworks for different areas. I’ve also layered the paint and, in some places, used plastering knives to skip coat the paint over areas and pencils and the back of the brush to etch in hair like textures.
This is painted on a canvas panel. Why do I paint on canvas panel? Mainly for the durability. Canvas panels are made with a rigid core with canvas glued directly to the rigid base. Unlike stretched canvas, boards warp less and expands and contracts less. It’s sturdier to ship and will endure the heat and cold better so the paint will crack and chip less than a stretched canvas which flexes and changes as in different temperatures and environments.
These are the only sites that are authorized to sell my art,
· http://www.kenneymencher.com
· http://www.kenney-mencher.com
· https://www.instagram.com/kenneymencher
· https://www.facebook.com/Kenney.Mencher
