Well, I must say that I’m quite proud of my latest painting. Took longer than I hoped – but it was well worth it.

Here is a second version painting of Tony Esposito, which I was asked to do on commission. It was a real treat trying to work out how this mask would look three dimensionally… as most photographs of him wearing it ‘pre-cage’ are washed out of colour and depth with a lack of real information to afford me with for study. After completing the mask I found a real challenge with the jersey – which is surprising. Normally I paint them with an afterthought compared to the mask, but I really wanted to get this one looking just right. I also added slight details no one would ever notice, such as barely visible shading where stiches should be on the edge of crests and other materials… and reflective lighting on the outside and inside of cracks and holes. The eyes were also tough to get right, so I took a different approach by putting in less information than I had hoped for, and instead am trying to use an effect in which the viewer is forced to fill in the missing information with their own imagination… without knowing it <– had they not read this.

Anyways, next up, Doug Soetaert in his Winnipeg mask.

HAWK EYE (Tony Esposito): 3′ X 3′ Oil on Wood Panel by Michael Slotwinski