Closeup of a head

[Chris Saper]

Dear Bill,

If you wouldn't mind, would you address a few technical questions abut this portrait?

Having benefit of only seeeing the head, it looks (at least on my monitor) like you have used a very direct red-green color harmony; is this a decision you make before beginning? What guides you in this kind of decision?

I also enjoy the contrast in texture, where the shirt really does look like stucco wall, very poster-like and flat in comparison to the head. Would you talk a bit about the way you use white, (the suit seems to have the same textural quality)? How did you handle the texture in the background?

You know by now that we will want to see the entire painting (assuming this is a detail)!