Research - Osamu Obi

Osamu Obi is one of my favourite contemporary painters. He does a huge amount of figure and portrait work, and I don't think I have seen much if any of his work where it doesn't include a figure. From looking at his work it has become apparent that he mostly paints female figures and often has them looking away from him, out of a window for example or at something in the distance. After thinking about it, it may be an attempt to capture a certain candid elegance, instead of having the figure looking directly at him. The colours he uses a usually a little washed out yet rich and full in themselves. I have seen very few of his paintings where he uses a light source and instead opts for natural light a large amount of the time perhaps from a window or a door leading outside. This gives his paintings an almost elegant feeling to them as the light and colours are less harsh due to the light being much whiter than a yellow or orange light source. It is also notable that in his paintings he doesn't leave out environments or the setting, and makes sure to include them as a natural frame for the figure he is focusing on, these are often in the form of; walls or a sofa and other household furniture, and this theme is evident throughout a lot of his work. In terms of the expression, they always come across as very intense or somber. I personally love everything about his work, especially the use of colours which are never too bright or unrealistic but are usually quite desaturated. There is a very elegant feeling evident in his work, perhaps it's the subject matter or his approach to his work but it never fails to possess a certain finesse.

One of the things I like most about his work is his ability to capture personality and mood through the pose of the figure. A popular pose for the figures in his work is having one or both arms stretched across their chest, as if they are protecting themselves. Another popular angle for him to paint the figures is the profile view, I have noticed a literal profile is something he frequently paints from a range of distances, some close up and some further away. There are certain aspects of his work, and themes that run throughout that imply vulnerability, the pose and the inclusion of shadowy environment in combination with the nervous expression of his solitary female subjects makes me feel like he is keen to portray this in his work.