Oscar Joyo, 16" x 12", oil on canvas

Oscar is a freshman student who's been coming to the Open Studio and portrait painting sessions to get to know how to paint in oil. Being aware of Oscar's general head proportion,
I chose a 16"x12" canvas instead of 12"x12" that I have often used lately.

There were a couple of unique difficulties in painting Oscar. First, the old canvas panel on which I taped the canvas was warped forward (and it seemed as though it was bowing further and further as the time progressed) and reflecting a disturbing sheen on the surface as I lay down more wet paint on it, making it difficult to see the colors.

Secondly, once he settled down with a comfortable tilt of his head, Oscar slowly but severely started sliding to his right.
He was sinking like the Titanic! (Later Oscar said, "At one moment, I couldn't see, and that was when I realized that's because I was falling asleep.") Because of this, I had to be careful to line up his features in a consistent orientation with his tilt.

It's always such a delight to paint such an array of colors shown on a deep, dark-skinned face, punctuated with cool blues and purples. Against his dark skin, the brightness of his left eye was so prominent that I couldn't resist accentuating it.