Stockbridge 6

This follows, after a 14 year gap, from a series of paintings of Sarah Stockbridge, actress, model and muse of the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. I wanted to try a figurative painting on canvas that takes advantage of the woven texture to paint in a soft style with lots of lost edges between the figure and background. I also wanted the background to be in some way the focus of the painting by being an intense field of colour with some texture to give it more interest. I used a rag to apply the layers of colour in the background and also the "black" (a mix of Alizarin Crimson, Dioxazine Purple and Permanent Sap Green) of the dress and hair. I was pleasantly surprised by the softness that was easily achieved by working on canvas which makes me wish I had tried it years ago! There is a step-by-step sequence of this painting on previous posts in this blog. 16" x 16" oil on canvas.