Monday

Twin Planes

Twin Carter Mitre Planes, brass with ebony infill, oil on canvas board, 8" x 10"

This painting of my twin mitre planes--planes given to me by the very generous Bill Carter, planemaker, and his wife Sarah--should be on a plane en route to Bill and Sarah right about now. To read the whole long story, click here. I thought I had completed the painting a couple of months ago, but several things about it continued to bother me. So, just when I was on the verge of sending it off to Bill and Sarah, I unpacked it and put it back on the easel.

the painting before...

and after my changes

I made some minor changes and then painted a dark glaze over much of the background, obscuring but not omitting the Carter name in the background. Normally, I'm not a fan of oily paint and prefer a fairly matte surface on my finished paintings--especially my portraits, but something about this still life seemed to lend itself to a little more gloss. Although it won't be apparent on screen, my changes affected the sheen of the painting and gave it a richness the original lacked. I'm much happier with this new version and hope it will find a good home with Bill and Sarah.

5 comments:

Paul Kierstead said...

Very very nice. I am sure they will be honoured. I think the choice of the glaze was an excellent one.

Shannon Reynolds said...

Thank you very much, Paul. I'm glad you prefer the revised version to the original.

Konrad said...

Hi Shannon,

The painting looks great. I like the toned down “Carter”. I am sure Bill and Sarah will be thrilled.

Best wishes,
Konrad

Shannon Reynolds said...

Thank you, Konrad.
Once I have a couple of commissions out of the way, I'd like to try a portrait of the Japanese saw.
Hand tools make very compliant and obliging subjects, better even than fruit or flowers.

Konrad said...

Hey Shannon - whenever you are ready the saw will be ready... or any of the others you might want to try.

Best wishes,
Konrad