Significant artists: David Hockney
Learning objectives
- Investigate the artist David Hockney and discover what his portraits can tell us if we look closely.
- Compare portraits and decide how they are similar and different.
- Explore some of the techniques that David Hockney uses.
- View larger image
by Bob Collins
bromide fibre print, 1972
10 in. x 13 7/8 in. (255 mm x 354 mm)
NPG x34127
© estate of Bob Collins / National Portrait Gallery, London
David Hockney is a famous artist, well-known for making lots of artworks in many different ways.
We are going to take a good look at some of his portraits and compare them to each other. Some of them look very different, but they all help us understand what David Hockney is interested in, and how he looks at the world.
You might find out some surprising things about David Hockney and his portraits.
Self-Portrait with Charlie
- View larger image
![[IMAGE] A man stands in front of a canvas and looks out at us. He is wearing a dark blue shirt, red braces, grey checked trousers and bright blue shoes. Behind him another man sits on a table. He is wearing a light blue jacket and a bow tie and his legs are crossed.](/assets/image-cache/long/mw129528/Self-Portrait-with-Charlie-David-Hockney-Charles-Dare-Scheips.add94a85.webp)
This is Self-portrait A painting, photograph or other form of art work where the artist represents themselves. with Charlie, a portrait by David Hockney. If you have seen artwork by David Hockney before, it might have looked a bit like this. Big and bold with bright colours. David Hockney is famous for making eye-catching, colourful paintings.
Look closer at Self-Portrait with Charlie
- View larger image
![[IMAGE] A man stands in front of a canvas and looks out at us. He is wearing a dark blue shirt, red braces, grey checked trousers and bright blue shoes. Behind him another man sits on a table. He is wearing a light blue jacket and a bow tie and his legs are crossed.](https://collectionimages.npg.org.uk/long/mw129528/Self-Portrait-with-Charlie-David-Hockney-Charles-Dare-Scheips.jpg)
-
- This is David Hockney. He has painted a portrait of himself – a Self-portrait A painting, photograph or other form of art work where the artist represents themselves. .
- His friend, Charlie Scheips is in the background. He used to work with him in his studio, his room for making art.
-
- He is painting.
- He is standing up and focussing on his work.
-
- He is sitting with his legs crossed, watching Hockney paint.
- He looks relaxed.
-
- In the room, Charlie Scheips is quite a long way behind David Hockney. But Hockney has shown us they are friends by arranging the picture so they look like they are side-by-side.
-
- We can’t see it, but David Hockney is looking at himself and Charlie Scheips in a mirror. He is looking at that, rather than at us.
- David Hockney is always looking. Making art is his way of looking at the world.
-
- It is an Oil painting A painting made with oil paint, a type of paint where the pigment (colour) is mixed with plant oil. .
- In the portrait we can see David Hockney’s paint brushes and the canvas he is painting on.
- We can also see the brushstrokes, the marks left behind by Hockney’s paint brush.
-
- David Hockney has kept the background very plain. It’s a lot of blue – not much else.
- This helps us to focus on the people in the portrait. David Hockney wants us to notice the people, not the background. He is really interested in people.
Compare and contrast self-portraits
Look carefully at another portrait Hockney made of himself, David Hockney. Compare it to Self-Portrait with Charlie.
- How are they different? Make a list of all the differences you notice.
- How are they the same? Make a list of all the similarities you can spot.
- View larger image
- View larger image
-
David Hockney
- Both portraits are Self-portrait A painting, photograph or other form of art work where the artist represents themselves. . David Hockney has included himself.
A mirror
- To make his self-portraits, he looks at himself in the mirror. He doesn’t include the mirror in the portrait, but we can see him looking at himself.
His Pose A particular position in which somebody stands or sits to have their portrait made.
- He is standing up.
The background
- The background is plain. There is nothing there to distract us.
Lines and marks
- We can see the lines and marks he made on the paper as he drew. These show us how he made the portrait. We can also see how he made Self-Portrait with Charlie by the brush marks in the paint.
His clothes
- He hasn’t dressed up in anything fancy. He is wearing everyday clothes.
-
No Charlie
- It’s just David on his own.
- David Hockney is known for making portraits with two people in. He also makes lots of portraits of people on their own.
No colour
- It's just black lines on a white background.
It isn’t a painting
- This time he is using different materials. It is a Charcoal A black material made by burning wood slowly in an oven with little air. drawing on paper.
- David Hockney is known for using many different materials to make his art.
It was made quickly
- Self-Portrait with Charlie took many hours to paint. Charlie Scheips came back and sat for the painting over many days so David Hockney could include lots of details in the painting.
- His Self-portrait A painting, photograph or other form of art work where the artist represents themselves. David Hockney is a quick drawing that he made all in one go. He has drawn lots of detail in his face, but not in the rest of his body.
Self-portrait activity
- View larger image
by David Hockney
charcoal, 1983
30 1/8 in. x 22 3/8 in. (766 mm x 569 mm)
NPG 6473
© David Hockney 1983
David Hockney drew this Self-portrait A painting, photograph or other form of art work where the artist represents themselves. in 1983. He decided to make one self-portrait every day for six weeks, no matter what he was feeling. It was like a diary, but with drawings instead of words.
- Try this yourself. Even if you're not in the mood, draw yourself and how you’re feeling right now. It’s just for you, not to show to anyone else if you don’t want to. Draw it quickly – you could set a timer for two minutes.
Compare two portraits
Look carefully at this portrait David Hockney made of his friend Drue Heinz. Compare Drue Heinz to David Hockney.
- View larger image
- View larger image
- How are they different? Make a list of all the differences you notice.
- How are they the same? Make a list of all the similarities you can spot.
Look closer at Drue Heinz
- View larger image
-
- This is Drue Heinz, another one of David Hockney’s friends.
- We have already seen that he likes to make portraits of people he knows well.
-
- He has left the background plain and white, like with his Self-portrait A painting, photograph or other form of art work where the artist represents themselves. .
-
- She’s sitting down, wearing her everyday clothes. In his Self-portrait A painting, photograph or other form of art work where the artist represents themselves. , Hockney has shown himself standing up, but Drue Heinz is sitting, like Charlie Scheips.
- Hockney likes people to sit down for their portraits. He says everybody has their own individual way of sitting.
-
- It’s not paint or Charcoal A black material made by burning wood slowly in an oven with little air. . This is an Ink Coloured liquid used for writing, drawing and printing. drawing.
- We can see the lines and marks he made with his pens.
-
- Hockney has used just a few lines to show the shape of Drue Heinz’s body and her clothes.
- He has drawn only two lines to show she is at a table.
-
- David Hockney is very interested in faces and hands.
- Looking at them helps him understand the person he is drawing.
Ink portrait activity
- View larger image
by David Hockney
pen and ink on paper, 1970
13 7/8 in. x 17 in. (354 mm x 431 mm) overall
NPG 6515
© David Hockney 1970
David Hockney has made a lot of drawings with Ink Coloured liquid used for writing, drawing and printing. . Making a portrait by drawing a few lines can look simple, but it can be very tricky to do with ink. If you make a mistake with a pen, you can’t correct it. You can’t rub it out like Charcoal A black material made by burning wood slowly in an oven with little air. or change it by painting over the top.
- Try it yourself. Have someone sit in front of you and draw them with a pen.
Use the smallest number of lines you can to draw the person’s shape. Don’t add any shadows or shading. Draw the shape of their clothes on their body, but no picture or patterns on their clothes.
- When you’ve finished, talk about how it went. Was it easy or difficult?
Portrait of George and Mary
- View larger image
by David Hockney
watercolour, 2002
48 in. x 36 in. (1220 mm x 915 mm)
NPG 6624
© David Hockney 2002
Here is another portrait by David Hockney of people he has known for a long time. They are George Christie and Mary Christie, a married couple.
David Hockney often draws people sitting down. He is interested in the different ways people sit.
In this portrait, George and Mary are sitting quite differently.
What do you think are the main differences between this portrait and the portrait of Drue Heinz?
Maybe you noticed this portrait has a lot of colour. For this portrait, David Hockney used Watercolour Paints that you mix with water, not oil, and use for painting pictures. . Look carefully to see the brushstrokes.
This portrait also includes shoes. As well as the person’s shape, face and hands, David Hockney also looks at their feet. He thinks what people choose to wear on their feet tells us something about them.
- Copy how George and Mary Christie are sitting. Which way of sitting is best for you, and why?
- What do you think George and Mary Christies’ shoes say about them?
- What do you think are the main differences between this portrait and the portrait of Drue Heinz?
Look closer at a portrait of two people
- View larger image
-
- This is another portrait of two people by David Hockney. They are Don Bachardy and Christopher Isherwood.
- They are David Hockney’s friends. He has shown them in their home.
-
- Don Bachardy is looking at his partner, Christopher Isherwood.
- Christopher Isherwood is looking ahead. Maybe he is looking at David Hockney drawing this portrait.
-
- There is no colour. He has used lines to show the shapes of their bodies and their clothes.
- He has added in quite a lot of detail, especially on their hands and faces.
-
- Don Bachardy and Christopher Isherwood haven’t dressed up for this portrait. In fact, they are wearing their dressing gowns.
- David Hockney is interested in feet. Don Bachardy has bare feet, and Christopher Isherwood is wearing socks.
-
- How people sit is interesting to David Hockney. Everyone has their own way of sitting.
- The two men are sitting slightly differently to each other, both in a relaxed Pose A particular position in which somebody stands or sits to have their portrait made. .
- Try copying the poses of the two men. How do you feel? Which way of sitting suits you best?
Review and reflect
Here are two portraits by David Hockney that you know quite well now. When you look at them at first, they might seem quite different. But if you keep looking, you can find things they have in common. Things that tell us these are both portraits by David Hockney. What do these portraits share?
Here are some things to think about:
- How does David Hockney know the people in the portraits?
- What body parts interest him, and have a lot of detail?
- How are they posing?
- What kind of clothes are they wearing?
- What are the backgrounds like?
- How did he make the portrait? How do you know?
- View larger image
- View larger image
- Make a list of everything these two portraits have in common.
Next steps
- David Hockney doesn’t only make portraits. Do some research and find some of his landscapes. Can you find any similarities between his portraits and his landscapes?
