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Unravel Me (x 2)

Unravel Me 2
16" x 20", oil on canvas, 2009, private collection


Unravel Me
15" x 22", watercolour, 1998, private collection

In the watercolour version painted over a decade ago, I superimposed the model over some Egyptian ruins for added mystery. Interestingly, the oil version is pretty mysterious without the ruins but with enhanced lighting (like in Fuel 2) and a moodier colour palette.

The model for these is very thin and, since you can see more of her lower body in the oil version, I cheated her hips and upper thighs, widening them a bit to achieve more of an "hourglass figure" look.

The background in the watercolour version is black and white and the sky was left white. This creates a nice wedge of negative space at the top, but I'm not sure if it reads as "black & white background and colour figure" as clearly as I intended. I tried this with another painting (same model, different Egyptian background).

I used this same photo ref in a larger oil painting called Absolve, but, as you can see if you click that link, it didn't work out.


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