Special Surprise, acrylic on canvas, 16x20, 2020
Panamá
This painting was a lot of fun. They have really "easy" faces for some reason... or maybe it was because of the size of the painting, which was larger than I'm used to. Or maybe because of how happy they look?
This painting is kind of strange because in daylight, the faces look kind of muted, but when seen at night in artificial light, whether cool or warm, the painting is vibrant and almost neon-looking. I noticed it and flicked a white light lamp on and off over the painting and it really blew my mind. There is a video below, of course the iPhone's automatic white balance quickly adjusts the image, but the effect can still be appreciated.
Just as a comment, always remember that screens change colors, and so do cameras, so in many cases the colors of my paintings as seen online will not be 100% faithful.
I repeated the color combination from the Playa Blanca Wedding Portrait's black clothes and loved it. I began that one first, but wasn't able to finish it before this one and the memorial one.
The white shirt was a mixture of yellows and purples, it became too bright and distracting so I toned it down with a layer of zinc mixing white and am pretty happy with the result.
Her jewelry is literally just drops of paint. I couldn't believe it worked, because the drops were quite large, and I'm so in love! I'm doing all jewelry like this from now on.
Went a little overboard with perfectionism of teeth and gums in this one, but they look amazing from far away.
The background is a mixture of Golden brand iron oxide and pearlescent silver. It's reflective when seen from different angles, and can kind of be appreciated in these photos because the painting wasn't yet stretched.
As I was signing it, I became a little uncomfortable with seeing the number "2020" written out so clearly... and briefly considered putting it only on the back of the canvas, but, I left it as a reminder that some good things did happen this year. It's only July as I write this.
Painted from a photograph provided by the collector.
The collector is a pneumologist and has made huge sacrifices to help fight the pandemic. We are eternally grateful for the care he has given our family and hope to be able to thank him properly, soon, seeing as how repaying such a huge favor feels unlikely.
Tap or click on the images below to enlarge.
