Dumb question

[Jean Kelly]

Why would an art critic (gallery owner) look at the surface of a painting at an angle? I mean a very sharp angle, almost skipping across the image sidewise under a very bright light. This happened to me today, she said "The Rose" was "beautifully executed" after this inspection. What was she looking for?

Jean

[Kimberly Dow]

The texture of the paint - like how thick it is? I've never seen that myself before.

[Elizabeth Schott]

Checking out your shadow and highlight areas - I doubt she was looking for numbers under the paint! HA!

[Marvin Mattelson]

Maybe she wanted to see if your stretchers were warped.

[Jean Kelly]

Thanks for the feedback, I felt really strange while she was looking at it across the face instead of directly at it. There are multiple layers of glazing on her face and I felt like she was seeing all the layers and peering into my soul.

I thought maybe it was a common teechnique of inspecting for "something"?

Marvin, it was painted on a cradled wood panel, so no warped stretchers.

Beth,if you look really really close the numbers just barely show.

Kim, maybe she was looking at brushwork, can anyone really tell how much paint is on a painting?

Jean

[Elizabeth Schott]

Jean it's funny to me you found it odd. I start each morning turning my work every which way and smoothing out the strokes I don't want yet.

Sometimes I go a bit too far and scratch, but I have become a painting plastic surgeon - practicing the art of botox on linen.