Adam Nowak III, 12" x 12", oil on panel

Adam had already taken his turn and posed twice, but this time he (and another member) were scheduled to pose again as a kind of "penalty" for not following instructions and signing up for the club in time. Kind of like paying a fine for returning a book late to the library or registering late for the classes at the Academy, I told the club. So here he is again, posing for the third time even though he hasn't been a member since the very beginning of the club.

A few days before, I came across a 1/4"-thick 12"x12" square board at the Utrecht store and bought a half dozen of them. I gave a couple to Adam, telling him to prepare and paint on them. As for me, I laid down three coats of shellac to seal the surface and to give it a warm undertone.

Painting Adam on this board, I wanted to retain the warm tone of the panel as a clean background in the finished painting. This meant I had little margin of error in constructing his head in order to keep the background undisturbed. So in the beginning, I carefully laid down the boundaries of his hair, beard and the far side of his glasses frame and started painting from inside out, being particularly cautious in the front of his face.

Though Adam struggled stay awake after a late night of partying with Conrad, I managed to capture him looking very alert.