Unraveling the Mystery Behind My Muse Portraits

The Secrets Behind My Muses

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog, and if you’re new here, a warm welcome to you!

I’m Wendy, a full-time artist who paints high-fashionable portraits of female characters, known as “muses.” In today’s post, I will dive deep into who my muses are, the mystery behind their eyes, and where I draw my inspiration from.

What Are Muses?

A muse serves as a source of inspiration for an artist. Historically, famous painters like Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and Édouard Manet all had muses who spurred their creativity. Traditionally, muses were often women celebrated for their grace, beauty, and feminine qualities, which is why many famous paintings depict women.

However, in modern times, a muse can be anyone or anything – a person, animal, object, or mythological figure. Muses appear across various art forms, including music, writing, filmmaking, and fashion.

Where My Muses Come From

One fascinating detail about my muses is that their inspiration dates back to the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age. This was a period of economic growth in The Netherlands, leading to a flourishing of the arts. Among the popular art forms were landscapes, still lifes, mythological scenes, and a specific genre known as “tronies.”

Tronies are paintings that focus on expressions, emotions, and character types rather than specific individuals. Artists used light and shadow to create dramatic, theatrical characters with exaggerated facial expressions and movements. These figures often wore hats, and costumes, and held props like weapons or musical instruments. Tronies were playful, expressive, and experimental, breaking away from the traditional rules of portrait painting.

The Link Between Tronies and My Muses

As I pursued painting as a career, I sought to put a contemporary spin on historical tronies. With a passion for beauty, cosmetics, and fashion, I decided to create muses that are like modern cousins of tronies. Inspired by fashion photography, designer jewelry, models, and flashy advertisements, I make my muses high-fashion and elegant while maintaining the expressiveness and mysterious quality of tronies.

My work is a blend of history and contemporary fashion, almost like a dialogue between the past and the present using art as a language. It’s not about recreating old paintings but exploring characters and their emotions from the past, dressed in modern styles.

My Journey of Creating Modern Muses

Each muse I create is unique and born from a different spark of inspiration. This inspiration can come from scrolling through Instagram, reading a fashion magazine, or observing haute couture pieces. As I paint, each muse undergoes a journey through various colors, textures, clothing styles, makeup looks, and accessories. They evolve organically, sometimes deviating from my initial vision to become something entirely new.

Interestingly, my muses are not based on any specific individuals. They are fictional characters, much like tronies, but set in today’s world. The process of painting a muse is unpredictable and exciting, as I never know exactly how they will develop.

Many people ask me which of my muses are my favorite. I tend to favor the ones that are very colorful with detailed backgrounds and textures, often spending the most time on these. However, I cherish all my muses because each one tells a unique story.

There’s always a mysterious quality behind their eyes and expressions, inviting viewers to interpret their stories in personal ways. I’d love to know which of my muses is your favorite and what you think her unique story is. Let me know in the comments below!

Unraveling the Mystery Behind My Muse Portraits