Back in November I began a mixed media painting and thought it was about time I put the finishing touches on it. Let me take you back to the layers and process. First, I chose a photo of my father-in-law's childhood that makes me smile, especially knowing him as an adult. That rifle has to be twice as tall as Paul. I'm guessing he's about three years old here and living on a farm in Texas. With no siblings or anyone closely, his friends were the animals. He had two cows Pete and Repeat. I made copies of various ephemera, like the notes written on the back of photos, maps, rifle targets, pages from his childhood books and anything relating to his life on the farm in the 1920's. I applied the layers onto a 12"x30" x 2.25"d canvas as the foundation.
Even though it was close to completion, I set it aside to move onto the holidays and then other paintings. Lately I am in the mood to finish up. So here you go!
The full piece is on left and a couple closeup shots on the right. Hope he's smiling.