Sophia and the Monkey Painting

Sophia Chipperfield was born in 1867 and married James Chittock in 1896; she was his second wife and 27 years younger than her husband. Their show featured the ‘Chittocks’ troupe of performing dogs and monkeys, considered the best travelling show in England at the time. She was an able equestrian and juggler and I have used her introduction to one of the monkeys as the base for this painting. I wanted to depict the ‘encounter’ and to display the vibrant fairground/showfolk colours with that well used, weathered look you see on circus tents etc. The canvas board has a base wash of Burnt Orange pigment, washes are made with acrylic pigment, professional airbrush medium and water. The subject foundation consists of opaque pigments generally applied in colour blocks with subsequent layers of colour washes. The layering of the work with washes allows for subtle tonal attributes that give depth and intensity, specially in the flesh tones. The overall result is a painting with a malleable texture that has eliminated unnecessary hard detail. Finished with a coat of Winsor & Newton Satin UV varnish, this not only protects the painting, but has a unifying effect. A suggested frame width of at least 60mm or more for this size painting. Narrow frames on large paintings have tendency to not sit well and have a habit of warping.

Painting:Acrylic on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:20.1 W x 29.9 H x 0.2 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.