Oil on reclaimed canvas. Canvas prepared with two coats of acrylic “gesso.” Ground was then toned, painted with a different portrait in acrylic paint. Canvas was reclaimed by painting over the original portrait with a mixture of Raw Umber and Flake White. Liberally embedded as usual with cat hair for texture.
I limited myself to a palette of only 6 colors.
Palette and Supplies:
Sketch in pencil and then started immediately painting in the large areas of background color. Painted in the figure’s cast shadow on the wall.
I like to wait until the background is dry to avoid too much wet paint. Went right to work on the face and eyeglass frame. Transparent darks that allowed the toned canvas to show through in the shadows. Kept things loose and a bit impressionistic. Didn’t spend a lot of time blending and smoothing transitions. Left visible brush strokes.
The clothing was painted in the same manner – quickly and semi-impressionistic.
Transparent glazes over the hat (quinacridone violet), face (transparent orange), eyeglass lenses (quinacridone violet). Brought up the highlights with flake white.
“Pompoms” (2015). Louis Cooper. Oil on Canvas. 20″ x 14″