Dalene Mcintosh

My approach to my art is born from a happy place and a desire to portray the beauty in people, who fascinate me, from personalities to unique structure and traits.


I strive to portray the inner narrative of a subject rather than simply reproducing the features.
After some contemplation it became clear to me that the inner narrative of the subject is by its very nature exclusive of the viewer and the conversation is an inner one, it therefore excludes the viewer from the narrative is a mildly voyeuristic way and so the lack of a direct gaze has developed in importance quite unconsciously. I like to imagine what the subject may be thinking and strive to bring that through in my depiction of the person.
I strive to create a feeling of the subject being quite unconscious of, or at least, unaffected by, the viewers gaze.


Light is very important to me as a painter, I am intrigued by the play of light either direct strong light or the lack of it, on the features of the subject.
Each face has its own subtitles and skin qualities and exploring how the flesh plays with the light brings me enormous satisfaction.


As a result of this my brush strokes are varied from one piece to the next, some being bold in an attempt to portr...