I had mixed up a little cup of raw umber with a lot of glazing medium in it to deepen the shadows in another painting. I still had some paint left when I was done, so I used it to sketch in this profile on a piece of gessoed masonite I had laying around the studio. It’s not a portrait of anybody I know, just a face out of my head, perhaps influenced by an ad I saw in a magazine or TV that day.

The other half of the panel is a slippery looking alien, done at a different time with grays and black. Maybe a shrink could offer an explanation as to why one thing appeared in my mind one day and the other thing the next, but it’s a mystery to me. I’m just having some fun.

The panel in question is what I call a BerryBoard: a surface made according to directions provided by Rick Berry. I'd done a painting demo with him and Phil Hale, and I loved the feel of the boards he had provided for us to paint on.

After he generously told me how he had made them, I bought several sheets of masonite and prepared 24 boards in 24" x 36" and 18" x 24" sizes to use as surfaces to experiment and sketch on.

I'm now down to my last couple of panels, so it's about time for me to make some more. Thanks Rick!