Thursday, April 28, 2011

Gate Keeper - Finished at least for now

 The Gate Keeper

My Venetian mascarone ( head carved in stone) is finally finished for now. It is painted on Canson board with Arches 140 lb CP paper. and it is measures 16" X 20".

I had thought of varnishing this painting, as Krista Hasson has done with her latest paintings on this surface. However, I think that I will practice my varnishing some more on smaller paintings. I will mat this painting following the sink mount method recommended by Deb Ward .

I photographed the Gate Keeper inside under artificial lights; consequently, the colors are probably a little bit off. His face is not that reddish:-)  Here it is again with a mat dropped on top of it:
And, again, but without a flash this time. IRL, I would say that the painting is somewhere between the two versions: a bit more golden than below, but with less of a red face than in the fist picture:-)


I really enjoyed painting this guy! I have grown very fond of him:-)

24 comments:

  1. I love him! Great light on this one and I love you color choices. What is the cradled method??
    : )

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  2. Krista, I am so glad that you like him. I do too:-)
    I should have said "sink mount" and not "cradled". Here is the recommendation from Deb on her 31 March comment on this site:"since you are working on board, you will have to "sink mount" the painting. You lay the mat over like any other painting, but you will have to cut foam core to fill from the edge of the board to the edge of the mat. It's not hard! You must also make sure that you get a deep enough rabet (the depth at the edge of the frame where the backing goes) to accomodate the thickness of the mat + board + backing board. "

    I will go and correct the terminology in my above post.

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  3. He's a handsome fellow and you've done him justice. I agree with Krista, the colours work really well in this piece.

    I believe I know 'sink mounting' as 'floating', where the mat is kept up from the painting a little. I have several of my gyotaku pieces framed that way and its quite effective.

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  4. Thank you, Jeanette. I spent more time than usual on this guy...I really did not want to make a big mistake by rushing.
    The "sink mounting" that I have in mind is more to compensate for the thickness of the artboard that does not go all the way to the edge of the frame - part of the matting would be over a thick area and the rest over a much thinner area. This could eventually show and indent the matting. The solution:just glue mat board the same thickness as the artboard around this artboard so that the top matting is over the same thickness everywhere. I have seen that done also with paintings on paper as an alternate to hinging.
    I would really like to see that "floating" on your gyotaku...must be quite lovely!

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  6. You are right Christiane, natural light gives the best results. The work is fabulous.

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  7. Original and interesting perspective for this guy. I love the colors you use for all your Venice paintings.

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  8. It's beautiful! I like the variety of colors as well! And the angle, looking up under his face. Very nice!

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  9. Thank you, Asit, Lydie, Katherine and Vicki. I appreciate your comments so much!

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  10. Love the finished piece. You did a fine job on this this, Christiane.

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  11. To correct - "sink mount" is not the same as "floating".
    You are correct - sink mounting fills in the space surrounding the painting board and below the mat when framing a board that is 1/4 in. thick (or any other thick board). It makes it so the mat fits evenly over the painting and does not "drape".
    "Floating" is when the painting is mounted with no mat; it can be applied to the foamcore directly, or elevated with a narrow piece of mat or something else to lift it above the surface. Then "spacers" are used to keep the glass elevated above the painting so it does not touch the glass.

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  12. Thank you Ann for your support!
    Deb, thank you for your clear description of these two processes and for recommending the sink mount for this particular painting. This is much appreciated.

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  13. Thanks for clearing that up lol, I thought I was missing out on some big new secret : )

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  14. So you should be fond of him -he's lovely xx

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  15. Krista,I think you know all the watercolor secrets:-)
    Thank you, Pat!

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  16. Great colors , he is gorgeous!

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  17. Jane, he is an cute old guy, isn't he:-) I'm glad that you like him!

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  18. Ditto everything said, Christiane...he's really a very well painted guy. I know that you're pleased with your final painting...we are.

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  19. Wonderful result Christiane. Love the shadow colours particularly. Afraid not off to Italy next week as planned due to ill health in Anita's family, but we'll get there sometime.

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  20. Joan, I am sooooo sorry that your long-awaited trip has been postponed. We were all waiting impatiently for those wonderful Italian paintings and sketches...But, as you mention, we will just have to wait a bit longer...You will appreciate your trip even more then. My best wishes for a quick recovery to Anita's family member.
    I am so glad that you like this painting.

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  21. I really like it Christiane, and it almost looks 3D - what could be a better effect for this subject?! I see lots of familiar faces on your blog, unfortunately it's impossible to keep up anymore with the "sphere" - I know I'm missing out on a lot of great work. thanks for your visit!

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  22. Nick, I am so pleased that you found the time from your super busy schedule to visit and to leave such a nice comment. I am glad that you like this painting!

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