I took this photo of my canvas with my source photo taped to the canvas where I was using it to paint the details of the forehead. I thought it looked really Interesting and I’ve been debating about painting it into the canvas as if I’m documenting the progress of the portrait. I’m imagining the viewer questioning if there is something actually taped to the surface of the canvas or if it’s painted to look that way. I started thinking that I could do a series of portraits of canvases at an unfinished stage in their development, exactly like this, but that might too contrived after seeing the first one, so maybe just one portrait. Katy thinks I’m too conventionally conceptual and post modern. She’s probably right, but I thought it would look really cool if I painted this in. We’ll see what I decide.
My good friends Jim and Kathy Barry dropped in for a studio visit today. They brought their sons Chris and Bo if an effort to dissuade them from becoming artists. They encouraged me to exhibit some work in nearby Fredericksburg, VA. I guess it’s the least I can do for such good friends. It was a great visit. Fast, but so cool to see them.
Before they arrived, I squoze in another hour on the canvas. I might actually finish this before the year ends and it may or may not have a painted in photo taped to my forehead.