"Easter Weekend Sees Halo in Webb Painting"

That is what the headline should have read in the Sunday Halifax Herald. Perhaps it would spawn the masses who are in search of a sign from the messiah, to make pilgrimage to my studio. The Christopher Webb Art Gallery, Studio & New Jerusalem. (The tagline at the bottom of the sign would read: It’s a miracle that he still has a career in the arts!)

Okay, so the halo wasn't actually a sign. It was a byproduct of the acrylic gel medium I used to adhere the words written on the paper to the canvas. Interestingly enough, the halo just appeared where I left a trace amount of medium around the eventual grain elevator.

The reason I think it happened has more to do with the canvas. When I do buy pre-made canvases I usually add another layer of gesso (or two). Truthfully, I got a bit lazy and thought I would put down the paint. The canvas just sucked up the thin layer of paint, so much so that it was dry within 20 minutes. The halo happened because the paint that is sitting on the gel medium is still wet and on a smoother surface and the paint on the canvas is completely dry.

Prediction: This weekend I would take the over on UNC v. Washington State and a tie on the possibility that when I apply the second layer of paint to the sky that it will actually even out and look okay. (A tie implies that the sky will win or lose by 6 points. Wait, what was the analogy again?)

I am leaning towards it working on the third try. I hope. If not, with my thin style of applying layer of paint, I will be, to use a term that is typical "art speak", screwed.

Overall I am pleased with the general feeling of the image. I am always a happier painter when the vision in my head is close to what I see on the canvas. Lots to correct though. Lots to work on. More ideas to explore. More painting to do.