instrumental

The French horn I painted last week. It's about 7"x 7" oil on wood. As I wrote to the person who commissioned it, a musician who is giving it as a gift to her mentor: "I am attempting to get the essence of this beautiful and complicated instrument, enough detail to see what's going on, but with a loose brushiness." I worked mostly from one of the photos she supplied, using a gray/black/white palette. Depicting shiny metal, alternatingly sharp and out of focus, and allowing layers to dry in between, reminded me of my attempt to paint the disco ball last winter. Not going for photographic likeness, but a textural interpretation in paint.