Scottish-Canadian Soldier 1940

Augustus John made this portrait of a Scottish-Canadian Soldier using brushes, oil paint and probably a whole lot of intuition. Look at the confident brushstrokes bringing out the soldier's features and uniform. I imagine John, stepping back, squinting, adding and subtracting until he captured something true about his sitter. What was he thinking as he daubed on that ‘stache? It’s like he’s using the paint to try and conjure something deeper about the soldier's character. The khaki surface is built up, layer upon layer. The way the colors blend, kinda loosely, creates a mood, somber, but also dignified. It reminds me a bit of Lucien Freud’s portraits, raw and unflinching, but with a softer edge. Painters, we’re all in conversation, right? Stealing ideas, reacting, pushing back. And in the end, it’s all about feeling, about making marks that resonate, that keep on resonating, you know?