Saw a cool mask at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and thought it would look good on Suzy’s head.
Oil on canvas. Store-bought canvas, primed with acrylic gesso. Ground was then toned with burnt sienna.
Palette and Supplies:
Design was sketched onto toned canvas with graphite pencil. Background of Mars Black and Phthalo Blue painted in.
Went straight to work on Suzy’s face. This was really only a first pass, and I got a bit carried away and lost sight of my proportions and lost some of the detail of the underlying sketch. Both sides of her face are totally different. I know that’s typically the case, but this is a bit out of control. Suzy loved it this way and made me promise not to change (fix) it.
Second session: Painted in the wooden head-piece. Had a lot of fun using transparent darks and allowing the toned canvas to show through. Brought up the highlights with Indian Red, Yellow Ochre, Naples Yellow, Flake White. Deepened the shadows with a mixture of Chromatic Black and Phthalo Blue.
“Always on my Mind” (2016). Louis Cooper. Oil on Canvas. 36″ x 12″.