Untitled (2025)

This untitled piece by Trudy, measuring 12 x 12 inches and created using soft pastels on mixed media paper, is a vivid portrait that draws the viewer in through its careful use of colour, detail, and expression. The work focuses closely on the face of a woman, offering a quiet sense of presence.

The approach is bold, yet soft. The pastels are layered with a delicate control that allows colours to merge smoothly across the skin, creating a surface that feels both alive and contemplative. Rich hues of reds, oranges, blues, and greens suggest depth, emotion, and light. The artist avoids rigid outlines, allowing form to emerge naturally through subtle shifts in tone and shadow.

Untitled by Trudy C. T. Phillip

Her face fills the frame, gaze turned slightly away. Her expression is unreadable, yet deeply felt. There is a quiet confidence in the way she holds herself, even in stillness. Her eyes are wide but calm, her lips gently parted. It is a moment suspended, neither joy nor sorrow, but something more inward. Something we are not meant to understand fully, only feel.

The composition itself pulls us in. By bringing us so close to her face, Trudy removes distraction and demands our attention. We are made to look, to study, to sit with the subject in silence. The use of soft pastel allows this closeness to feel tender, as though we are not simply observing her, but sharing space with her thoughts.

There is no background to anchor the image in place, no external narrative. Instead, the story is held in her features. In the way light meets her brow, in the soft gradient beneath her cheekbone, in the warm shadows near her jaw. It is in these small transitions of colour and form that the work invites a quiet introspection, both of the subject and of ourselves.

This piece, seeks to create a mood, a moment, a mirror.