For me, the human face has always been much more than a combination of facial features, proportions, lines, and shapes. It carries an entire world of emotions, memories, experiences, and unspoken stories that sometimes even the person themselves cannot fully express. Throughout life, we experience a wide range of emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, loneliness, anger, hope, anxiety, and longing. Many of these feelings develop deep within us and are not always easily revealed through our words or actions. Yet sometimes, traces of them can be found in a single glance, the movement of the lips, the expression of the eyes, or even the silence of a face.
When I paint portraits, I am more interested in discovering and expressing what lies beneath the visible appearance than simply reproducing someone's physical features accurately. I want to understand what emotion exists behind a particular gaze and what can be revealed through a face beyond its physical resemblance. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Expressionism has such an important place in my artistic practice.
In Expressionist painting, the goal is not simply to represent external reality. Instead, the artist attempts to filter reality through personal emotions, experiences, and inner perceptions. In this approach, colors do not necessarily have to follow the natural colors of objects or human faces. Lines are not required to obey conventional drawing rules, and proportions can be altered or exaggerated. Sometimes, a powerful color, a rough line, a restless surface, or even a deliberate distortion of form can communicate human emotions more effectively than hundreds of realistic details.
I believe every face has a story to tell, but that story is not always revealed through physical details. Sometimes, a patch of color, a deep shadow around the eyes, or freely moving, restless brushstrokes across the canvas can express something that is difficult to describe with words.
In my paintings, I try to pay less attention to whether every brushstroke is technically correct or incorrect, and more attention to the emotions I experience while painting. I allow colors, lines, and changes in form to interact and respond to one another throughout the creative process. Sometimes the result is quiet and sometimes chaotic, much like human beings themselves, who are never in a constant #emotional state.
For me, being expressive is not about making a #face beautiful or ugly. It is an attempt to approach the truth of human emotions, which can be beautiful, painful, bitter, contradictory, or even difficult to confront.
Perhaps the real value of a #portrait lies in its ability to make the viewer pause for a moment and encounter a familiar yet sometimes forgotten emotion.
I don't want viewers to look at my portraits only in search of physical resemblance. I would rather they stand in front of them for a moment, look deeply into their eyes, and ask themselves:
What emotion does this face awaken within me?
A few days after signing the painting, I looked at it again and felt that it needed more #yellow . So I decided to return to it and continue working. I felt that adding more yellow would help express the emotions and overall atmosphere of the #painting more effectively.
Yellow has always held a special place in my paintings. For me, it is more than just a color; it carries a kind of energy and emotion that I find difficult to express through words. Yellow can suggest light, warmth, hope, and life, but it can also create a sense of tension, restlessness, or even loneliness. I love the way it can transform the atmosphere of a painting and bring different colors into a new relationship. Sometimes I use it boldly, allowing it to dominate the surface, and sometimes I add it in small touches that quietly change the entire feeling of the work. I don't always know in advance where the yellow will take me. I let my feelings guide me, and often it is the color itself that shows me the next step.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supports me, takes an interest in my artwork, and leaves such kind and encouraging comments. Your kindness and appreciation mean a lot to me and give me more motivation to continue my artistic journey. If you have any questions about my paintings, my creative process, or anything related to art, I would be more than happy to answer them. I'm truly glad to connect with you all through #art . ❤️
With appreciation,
Hossein Rishehri