I have a canvas that I’m working on for an exhibition at the Art House Co-op in Brooklyn. Each participating artist has a 4″ x 4″ canvas to paint a self-portrait upon. Since I love self-portraits, I was really anxious to join the show. I scribbled a few ideas down while I was working on my Butterfly Portrait. I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do.
I eventually decided to paint a smaller version of my self-portrait in the works on the large canvas. I like the small scale, but most of my brushes are big so this will be an interesting challenge for me.
Here’s a shot of my work station where all the magic happens. I think this taboret was built by Tony Wong Palms when we shared a studio space at titanic anatomy, ca 1990-1994. Remember titanic anatomy?
For the first couple of hours I just held the little canvas and painted with it on my lap, paint brushes in my mouth, behind my ears, etc… I have plenty of tables in the studio, so why not use one? I rearranged the track lighting and I had a decent set up. Unfortunately, when I saw what I painted in the daylight, all the color was way off. I spent another night trying to modify the color scheme, stepping outside every few minutes. I need to get some different bulbs so I can enjoy sitting down.
The envelope is ready and waiting for me to stuff the canvas into and send to the Brooklyn Library. It was fun, but I’m more excited to have it done and go back to the Butterfly Portrait. The smaller scale stuff works good for me when I’m drawing, but painting that size is not my bag!