The Story
Louise #1
Technical details
Louise #1
Between Stripes and Skin
2025
Oil on canvas, diptych
80 × 120 cm (80 + 40)
The Story
The Louise series begins in the middle of a scene. In Louise #1, a man sits by the water, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. Is he dreaming of Louise’s voluptuous body? Even the clouds seem to follow her curves.
Like all the Louises, Louise #1 is conceived as a diptych. Its second panel opens the scene through a yellow curtain, giving us a glimpse beyond while keeping part of the room hidden. Tintin appears on the curtain in a completely different visual language, an ironic nod to Belgian comic culture.
The Process
My study began on my iPad. I tried, tested and cut the scene until I felt it was becoming something. I left Louise’s face outside the frame. Then I became excited by the red pigment stick I used for her hair. With each stroke, her windblown hair grew more abundant.
A thin underpainting establishes the main colours. I build up layers, using transparent zinc white to tie the colour areas together before adding fine detail. Drying between the transparent layers can take hours or days; the pauses let me reflect and adjust. Repeating patterns in the clothing and background, and in the play of light and shadow, creates rhythm. I used charcoal to add a line drawing of Tintin to the yellow curtain.
In the video below, I illustrate part of my working process.