Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

72 Artists & Illustrators

same time,” he explains. “There are all these different

tones and it just doesn’t convince until you get it right.”

This fascination with inanimate objects positions

Diarmuid, in his own words, as “a painter who sometimes

does portraits”. The sitter is an object in his scenes: part of

the still life. Just as the box controls the light, the artist is

puppet master of his own show. Hidden in a studio corner

is one such scene in miniature, a traditional jug and

vegetable still life project displayed on a board. Look

closely at the completed work and the shiny jug reflects the

window, the easel and indeed the painter – an indication

the room exists outside the box and an artist is at work.

In the jug’s warped reflection, the still life reveals its

process, just as the rough edges of the portraits alert us to

a painter’s mark unmade. This unfinished quality is

perfectly balanced by an infallible attention to detail and,

just as the studio box is both fragile and surprisingly

durable, Diarmuid’s fragmentary paintings have an alluring

presence that’s here to stay.

Diarmuid’s exhibition Akzidenz-Grotesk is on show at

Offer Waterman, London W1S, from 21 April to 16 May 2017.

http://www.waterman.co.uk

DIARMUID’S SKIN TONE PAINTING TIPS

• GET THE RIGHT GREEN
  It is important to have a very rich apple green for
  painting skin. A lot of painters have trouble finding the
  right sap green. I choose Old Holland.


• RESTRICT YOUR PALETTE
  Use a restricted palette, and remember to change your
  palette in response to the sitter’s complexion.


• EXPLORE BASE COLOUR
  For north European skin, include Alizarin Crimson,
  Winsor Red Deep and Winsor Yellow Deep. There’s
  more ochre and orange in Mediterranean skin, and
  more purple in dark skin – browns, violets and blues.


• THINK ABOUT REFLECTIONS
  Dark skin picks up more colour from the room. It is
  more reflective than fair complexions.

ABOVE

Forty-One False

Starts (detail),

oil on linen,

1 27x 1 6 7. 6 c m

“VELVET HAS A

SPLIT PERSONALITY

• IT PICKS UP TWO
  COLOURS AT ONCE.
  THERE ARE THESE
  DIFFERENT TONES
  AND IT DOESN’T
  CONVINCE UNTIL
  YOU GET IT RIGHT”

69 Diarmuid Kelley.indd 72 10/04/2017 11:01