Faith on burlap
 

This is my friend, Faith, from the deli meat counter at the grocery store. In a moment of weakness she allowed me to photograph her.

Oil on stretched burlap 16 x 20.

Most of my paintings are on portrait grade linen that I gesso and sand three times. This produces a nice smooth surface. However, this beautifully smooth surface feeds in to my tendency to nit-pick and rub the life out of what I paint. One remedy is to paint with a much bigger brush than you think is right for the job. Another remedy is to paint on a surface that is so knarly that it won't allow this life sucking detailing to take place.

So, I got a big brush, mostly, and I found this burlap that was taken from between a saddle and a double humped camel - Camelus dromedarius, so named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, or would that be a dromedary? He digresses. Either way it made for quite a pungent experience. I'm going to varnish with a touch of Channel no. 5.

Very nice and original!

Thanks, Cynthia.

I like it a lot.

Thanks, John.

Somehow my images got dropped. I've added them back.

Mike, I'd intuited that it was the same as the "signature" work, thanks to your description of the ground.

Nice 3/4 head, Miguelito! I like the skin tones a lot...and the choice of color for the headdress is perfect!

Do you now prefer the rougher cloth....? How did you prime the surface before painting?

Carlito,

As far as the chapeau, I've carried it around for many years. it's basically a cloth beret. I've taken untold numbers of photos of women with this hat. And, I've painted it more than a few times. Here's a few that have come and gone over the years, also the source for this painting.

I can't say that I prefer it, although, having gone through this exercise I don't fear it.

I once did a portrait on raw linen which I sized with clear gesso. It was handled much the same as this one. I do like the look of the vignette with this raw material.

I once started a thread about vignettes that that still exists in the "conceptualizing" section. It was quite entertaining. We talked also about corsets and z-coils. But that was over ten years ago and everyone has since gone on to other pastures.