"The Masks We Wear", Oil on canvas, 30" x 40"

This painting was born from a request to do a masquerade painting after I finished the "Dia di Los Muertos" painting (a commission by the same person). She had a specific pose she wanted the woman to be in, but I could never fit a scenario in my head for the pose. Looking at masquerade photos I found one of a woman seated much like the front woman and knew that was the pose I wanted. However, she only had pasties on and I wanted to keep the painting a little more PG so I figured a feathered fan would be a good addition. After that I had to come up with the story of what was happening around her. I played with a man standing, seated, etc etc until I settled on the man leaning in the doorway. I figured it had to be a masquerade party though, so shouldn't there be more than two people? So I added the woman on the couch to do three things; 1: Indicate a party, 2: Make the front woman look less like a hooker, and 3: make you wonder what she is doing there. Now, where is this happening? I feel that New Orleans, or Paris is the place for masquerade parties so I found interior photos of Gothic Victorian homes and got ideas for that. It needed to be fairly dark, with dark reds everywhere. There is a story in this painting somewhere, but it's not me telling it. You have to make up the story yourself! I don't think it is a painting with marketability, but it's a painting I wanted to do for me, just because.

The Initial Charcoal sketch

A little more detail was added to the drawing. I decided I wanted a little less chest coverage so I moved the fan to the right slightly. I "set" it with fixative.

The initial washes were done using a dark mixture of Earth Red, Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, and some black and white. I added Raw Sienna in some areas, and a spot of Thalo Green. I initially coated the canvas with a VERY thin layer of a 50/50 mixture of mineral spirits and oil.

Tonights paint session involved strengthening the darks and putting things in their positions. I mostly used my black mixture of Alizarin and Thalo Green. I would add various colors to it as needed. Lots of medium, fast and loose.

I have worked most of the day and have only gotten a little bit of the upper right done behind the guy. Slow going!

Worked on the man tonight. Mostly Prussian blue with various grays, white and black.

Here I have refined the ottoman quite a bit, and added a fringe to the bottom. Notice the little detail by the foot that is pushing some of the fringe aside. I really like that spot. I used a #8 round brush for most of the fringe work. I have also decided to change the chair to the right into a leather couch so I began to add elements of buttons and wrinkles.

I worked the leg a good bit, using various dark color mixes of prussian blue, aliz crimson, black, and various grays I have mixed. There is a little Cadmium red in the hip.

I have strengthened the darks in the fan quite a bit, using my black mix of Aliz crimson and Thalo Green and a lot of medium. I added shadows to the arm and left side in general.

I went a little different direction with the mask. I wanted it to be WAY out there with filigree and lots of detail. Raw Sienna, gray and black make up the bulk of color used on the inner mask. I also felt like the light at the top left was distracting so I eliminated it.

Mask detail was fun to add. It's pretty simply done but looks complex. Black dots make the detail around the edges.

The fan has been detailed adding the ostrich feathers. I kept the blue feathers pretty simple and hinted at the inner fan structure with simple strokes of blues and grays.

I started detailing the back left with pictures on the wall and added detail to the chair behind the woman. All of this is loose and somewhat indistinct so as not to take away from the woman.

After looking at the painting for a while I thought the blue feathers in the far back woman's mask needed to be black instead of blue so I glazed with Megilp and my black mixture. Also, the woman in front seemed to have a huge bright area for a chest so I darkened it a little and added a choker necklace.

It was debated that adding the shoulder beads to the necklace was too much. I don't think so; and it's my painting and I like the way they look, so there they are! I kept them pretty simple.