Description
Portrait of Emotions 7
Acrylic On Unstretched Canvas
28 × 36 cm
R2 200
Portrait of Emotions 7 is an expressive study of a human head, dissolved almost entirely into gesture and colour. From a bare, warm-cream ground, a face emerges in sweeping strokes of turquoise, teal and black, with cooler violet and blue notes gathering around the shoulders. Features are only lightly suggested, so the figure feels caught between presence and abstraction.
This is a painting about feeling rather than likeness. Julie Tugwell works with a palette knife and loaded brush, dragging and scraping cool tones across the canvas so that the surface stays lively and physical. The restrained, largely cool palette gives the piece a contemplative, slightly melancholy mood, while the raw canvas around the figure lets it breathe and keeps the focus on the head itself.
Part of her ongoing Portrait of Emotions series, this work has a quiet, modern intensity that suits considered interiors. It would sit beautifully in a calm, neutral room, a study or a gallery-style arrangement, where its cool tones and expressive handling can bring atmosphere and a sense of introspection to the space.
Style
Julie Tugwell is a contemporary South African artist whose work shares qualities with expressive, painterly traditions, favouring energetic brushwork and an emotional response to her subject over strict realism. In her figurative work she reaches for atmosphere and inner feeling rather than exact likeness, letting faces form and dissolve within gestural marks. Whether working in bold colour or a restrained, largely tonal palette, she captures the mood and vitality of a subject, creating original artworks that bring warmth, character and considered sophistication to contemporary interiors.
Please note: Images are provided as a guide to the artwork’s size and style. As each original painting is photographed under different lighting conditions and viewed on different screens, colours may vary slightly from the original artwork.
