This painting was an experiment in a new type of panel. I’ve always been a fan of painting on board versus painting on canvas because I don’t like the give of canvas, and canvas will expand and contract with temperature and time and thus be more likely to crack. However, panels are also very challenging to create soft edges on, and edges is something I’ve wanted to improve on. So, I decided to try belgian linen mounted on a wood panel. It should be the best of both worlds right? Yep! I LOVED it! Unfortunately it’s about 3 times the price of gessoed panels, but I think it’s worth it. So you may be seeing more of these kind of panels in the future.

As for this painting, it was created with a limited palette: cadmium red deep, payne’s gray, cadmium yellow, and titanium white. While I worked I couldn’t help but think the model was thinking back about some memory. Her look is kind of an “off in the distance” expression, and I find it very intriguing. It’s like she’s with us physically, but not mentally. Interesting. Enjoy!

8″ x 10″ oil on belgian linen mounted on wood