1:12 PM: my first hit when i entered the studio was that the skins tones on the left (our left) side of her face needed to be warmer. my second was that there was something slightly disturbing about her nose. and finally, the shadow beneath her lower lip seemed to dark and too big. it's improved, but the true test is always taking it over to the house to determine how it holds up in the company of it's brothers and sisters. it definitely has a very strong presence; a strong gaze.
today i renamed the entire series the gaze, and dropped the grey series title. that has interested me for many years and dates back at least to 1971, when i made my first studies of fayum paintings hanging in the british museum and the louvre. i had the opportunity to paint those studies on site, standing directly in front of the ancient portraits. i would do a much better job today; nonetheless it was an invaluable experience, who i owe to a large degree to my mentor & friend, yannis tsarouchis. tsarouchis was a passionate student of the fayum. the study you see on the left was purchased in 1979 by joseph h. hirshhorn, founder of the hirshhorn museum & sculpture gaden, in washington, d.c.