Original artwork description:

This painting is a follow up from my first Anita painting (see “Anita”). A figurative and atmospheric head and shoulders portrait of a girl I know. I couldn’t decide on a title for this work. I had at once thought I would give it a title, but maybe it doesn’t need one. I leave it up to you - the viewer to decide…….

This figure painting of Anita also explores light, shadow and tone within an interior setting using deep turquoise, burnt orange, violet and indigo for the flesh tones against a dappled, yellow ochre background. I have chosen the guest room or spare bedroom at home for the subject of the interior as it has an enchanting light source in the late morning with an airy and romantic glimpse of creeper leading into the garden below and beyond. The colours of the blanket and bedside table and are not true to the original interior. I decided to depict the the bedside table, not in it’s true mahogany which I thought would make the painting a little severe, but in a powdery teal with a shabby chic softness. The tousled bedspread, originally a pink, wooly candlewick texture is now a serene turquoise teal. On the day, Anita was wearing long, smart, black polyester shorts - incongruous with the casual summery feel of what I had hoped I to achieve as I thought black would kill the softness in the painting, so I chose gentle cinnamon tones to give the impression of brushed cotton or suede and also to remain in harmony with the other range of colours in the image.

Materials used:

Oil on stretched canvas block

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