Study in Emerald

Oil on stretched linen
Unframed
9″ x 12″

I have painted this model over and over again. She is one of my muses (and shares my birthday, so is clearly an excellent human being.)

I’d bought an emerald green silk sari at a fabric sale a few months before and I’d been dying to do a perfect profile in front of it, as a nod to early Renaissance paintings with their brilliant primary colours and exquisite profile portraits. 

I painted this in a single day from life, using large brushes and bigger, chunkier brushwork than usual. The background in particular is quite transparent and brushy which I love – it adds an extra glow to the lusciousness of oils.

$500