Beatrix Potter- Portrait of an Author/Illustrator, part II

The third in my mini-collection of portraits of authors of the past: Beatrix Potter.

This collection is painted on old hard cover books found in second hand stores. Often, these books are so old that their spines are very fragile with sun damage. They often have torn out pages, scribbles and the front and back cover usually have scratches, punctures or water damage. All this, in my artistic opinion, adds to the character of the piece. Gluing the pages together and closing it shut to dry completely transforms a fragile damaged old book into a very stable element to paint on and will retain it’s original and identifiable book shape, perfect for this collection. I find great satisfaction in giving an old book a new life and I would like to believe that these lady authors of this collection would appreciate it as well.

For Beatrix Potter's portrait, I found this old book with an embossed pattern reminiscent of chicken wire and in the center of each oval is a foliage pattern. The surface is very textured making fine details more difficult to render, but I thought it perfectly in the spirit of Beatrix.