Description
Faces in the Mirror II – a narrow tower and a line of smoke
Painting on canvas elongates a single face into a narrow upright tower running from the top edge of the canvas to the bottom — modern painting in which the proportions are the joke and the face plays it straight.
Technique and texture
The ground is a soft passage from warm ochre on the left to cool grey on the right, with no visible stroke anywhere in it. The face is built from three large planes that separate by tone alone rather than by any drawn line. The smoke is one unbroken thin stroke, never once lifted.
The motif
The nose is drawn out into a narrow plane that runs almost to the lips, and it is what carries the whole vertical. The eyes are small and half closed and the mouth is little and turned down, so the expression stays withheld. Black hair splits into two points that stick out sideways like wings, and the ears are wound into spirals — the only ornament on an otherwise severe head.
Setting and placement
Earth tones with no strong colour in them sit quietly beside timber and leather instead of arguing with them. The upright crop is what makes it useful: it takes the narrow slot between shelves or the strip beside a door.
- Technique: hand-painted painting on canvas, stroke-free graded ground, tonally separated planes, one unbroken stroke of smoke
- Palette: ochre, grey, black, brown, brick
- Ideal for: studies, reading corners, hallways
- Character: withheld, wry, characterful
Choose the size that suits your wall.
Faces in the Mirror II on a narrow wall
Faces in the Mirror II, the elongated face with its thin line of smoke, is painted in 13 upright sizes from 30 x 45 to 180 x 230 cm. Because the face runs like a tower from edge to edge, it belongs on narrow walls, so choose 40 x 50 or 50 x 80 cm between two doors or beside a wardrobe, 60 x 75 cm above a console of about 100 cm, and 120 x 155 or 140 x 180 cm for a tall stairwell wall.
Pick YES under Stretcher and the canvas with its ochre-to-grey ground arrives stretched on a wooden stretcher, ready to hang. A frame for the cigar-smoking face is not included and is chosen in the Frame menu, which starts at Without frame. Faces in the Mirror II is delivered in 15–45 days. Every stroke of the black hair and the smoke is hand-painted on canvas, so this painting is not a print.
Questions about Faces in the Mirror II
Which size of Faces in the Mirror II suits a narrow hallway wall?
For a narrow hallway wall we suggest 40 x 50 or 50 x 80 cm, so the long face and its smoke do not crowd the door beside it.
Does the face with the cigar arrive ready to hang?
Yes, once you choose YES under Stretcher we stretch the ochre-and-grey canvas on a wooden stretcher before it ships.
Can I order Faces in the Mirror II in a size that is not among the 13?
Yes, write to us about a painting made to order and we will paint the narrow face to the measurements of your wall.
