Studio Time

This image began life as a photograph of Mera; another extremely pretty woman I met in the Chicago goth scene back in the ’90s. She was wearing a velvet (I think) collar during the shoot. The title of the painting refers more to the idea that I removed it than any actual collar.

The photo was manipulated considerably in gimp, printed in greyscale and painted in oils on Arches oil paper. The hair is, of course, based on an automatic drawing.

I really don’t remember the precise colors I used for this. A guess would be Sennelier’s alizarin crimson, cobalt blue, ultramarine rose, ultramarine violet, titanium white, burnt sienna, Modigliani ochre, cadmium red and, most likely, a few other colors.

This image is a bit over-sharpened. I like it better that way.