Anne Boleyn (The Most Happy)

I made this one last night. It's 18x24 and is the 4th wife in my series of the six wives of Henry the Eighth.

There are tons of layers and textures in this piece which may be hard to see, but I tried a cool thing with gesso, which I've seen others do.

When I put the gesso down, instead of just spreading it on like normal, I made some areas super thick, some where very thin, and some areas I made patterns with the palette knife, which made a really cool crackle looking effect.

I really had a ton of fun with this piece, and these kind are my most favorite to do, because I totally get into the groove, and just have so much fun putting layer after layer of paint down, and trying all kinds of techniques and textures.

You really can't ruin it, and there isn't much pressure to get many details right, not like if I was painting a portrait or something, you know? They way I look at it is, if it doesn't look right, add more paint! It's always worked for me.

Anyway, just in case you are curious, the collage elements used were, Anne's portrait, her signature, her badge, her motto (The Most Happy), and a love letter written to her from Henry (oddly enough none of Anne's responses have survived, but there are quite of few of Henry's).

To be honest, I'm going to be sad when this series is over. I'll have to think of a new theme to do with this style.

Oh, I need to add a side note. I'm coming to realize my brand new computer has terrible color management, and when I look at photos of my work, it looks awful. Really washed out and greyish, etc. So I often will alter the colors to make them look more like the original painting. However, since everyone's monitors are different, I've no idea what you folks in cyber land see. So, if the colors you are seeing are really crazy bright, or dull, I'm sorry. The real painting, I promise, is very vibrant.

Okay, I'm done.

Stay tuned for Jane Seymour!