If you look at this in a certain way you might imagine a halo behind the head of the lady with the scissors, she who must be obeyed or at least ,whose chatter has to be engaged with if you are to get away with your hair coming out approximately how you wanted it. She is in charge.
That shape is a clue to whom I was think of when the idea for this picture came two me: two female heads in close juxtaposition, with contrasting hair, one with smooth fair hair , the other with dark curly hair.
With that in mind I looked for a situation where this might occur and came up with a hair dressing salon. The “mirror “ on the right with the reflections of the two heads was the key to setting their location. Other elements suggested themselves in relation to the heads: the two hairdryers at top left were prompted by the dark curls, their colour in turn suggested by the pinkish drape around the fair headed figure.
Very late on, when I was working on the lit side of their faces, I introduced two “spotlights” above the mirror because the light was very obviously coming from above the mirror and in the salon that is where you would find them. The lights themselves are a pale Naples Yellow as are the highlights on the blonde head and by extension they suggested that I use a yellow line to edge the figures where the light would most likely have caught them.
The ”reflections” in the mirror also suggested to me how I should render them. I could have been literal but instead somehow I managed to produce my first abstract composition. It is the l bit of the picture I like best.
Comments