Head and shoulders

[William Whitaker]

I've found a professional photographer with a huge Hasselblad who is taking all my art photos now. I haven't submitted anything here in a long time, but I believe I should from time to time if I feel I have any information that is worth sharing.

This painting is 8x10", oil on panel.

[William Whitaker]

I paint with a white lead which I grind myself, along with a few other home-made colors. I'm doing almost all my current paintings, large or small, on smooth panels.

Since I'm working with white lead, I no longer paint on a toned ground, but on a white ground to prevent the painting from darkening as it ages. White lead has a tendency to become more transparent with time and the ground can eventually influence the tone of the painting.

[William Whitaker]

I don't use driers and I work in layers so I usually have a half dozen projects around the studio that I'm working on.

[William Whitaker]

I do most of my painting with hogs bristle filberts. I finish up with watercolor kolinskys.

[William Whitaker]

For those of you who want to go nose to nose, here are some serious close-ups.

Most of us are forever making museum guards uncomfortable by getting too close to paintings so we can see technique.

I look like a committed anarchist and I make museum personnel very nervous. I always keep my hands in plain sight and I keep them behind my back too.

It helps to talk to the guards. My visit will make their duties less boring, but at least they won't panic as easily.

[Chris Saper]

Beautiful, Bill. I could eat these with a color spoon! And I even love the abstraction of the last image - thanks so much for sharing.

[Richard Budig]

Just plain terrific, Bill. You're right about the guards, hands behind your back, and a-l-m-o-s-t leaving a nose print here and there.

I remember once at the Denver Museum of Art, I was trying to get almost nose to nose with a Degas that was bolted to the wall, and behind glass. It was one of his old experiments on poster sized construction paper. He was known to use all sorts of caustic things in search of making interesting looking work. As I got closer and closer to the glass, so did the guard get closer to me. Finally, he approached and told me I had to get back. I asked why, and he told me they (the guards) had been informed that any undue touching or jostling might cause that cheap paper to crumble and fall into the bottom of the case that was bolted to the wall. It hit me right there that if I ever happened to paint a masterpiece, someone would figure out how to preserve and care for it. That's when I switched to panels. I make my own, and for the sizes I use most of the time, I figure I have around fifty to seventy-five cents apiece in them . . . it allows me to paint with great financial abandon.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Bill,

Thank you for posting this beautiful portrait and for the info on your process. I really enjoy looking at the close-ups. Such luminous skin!

[Michele Rushworth]

Gorgeous.... thanks for posting them, Bill!

[Brunella Neri]

How wonderful!