Elvis With Pattern

I have a neighbor who is super into Elvis. She and her husband have always been good neighbors so I thought I'd do this little painting as a gift, as a kind of way to say "thanks for being such good people."

It's the first time I've tried painting on board. It has some advantages so I can see why some people like it, but for now I think I'll be sticking with either canvas or linen. It doesn't have to be stretched, but I think I like the "pull" of canvas and linen. I don't know, I guess it's just a "feel" thing. I also think I prefer working a little larger than this. I like the freedom to move my arm a little more. This painting is also much tighter than I prefer. The pattern I put in the background was one I designed. I kept it a little looser than the portrait part, but overall the whole piece is not really the way I want to paint going forward.

I don't intend to do a lot of paintings like this, but who knows. All in all it was still a fun painting to do.

"Elvis"

8 x 8 - Oil on Wood