I had two more painting sessions on Washington Square. I finally got the pigeons in there (can you see all 7 of them*?). Washington Square has a hole in the middle which is supposedly a no-no. Cleveland has a painting by Poussin with the same empty center, and it’s very effective. It took me awhile to notice that because the painting is in such bad condition and poorly restored.
I had a grudge against the painting for a brief period. The canvas began sagging so badly against the cross brace that I had to remove it. It was very annoying tying to paint precise lines and whatnot while attempting to hold the canvas off the brace. The problem was either the GAC 100 I recently started to use or the canvas. The canvas was from a 30-yard roll. The farther I got into the roll, the more the canvas stank! The canvas had mildewed or suffered some related issue.
I was furious, of course. 30 yards! Jerry’s Artarama graciously replaced the roll for free, including shipping. They didn’t want it back and I suspect I wasn’t the first to complain. With customer service like that, I’m a loyal fan of Jerry’s. I had stretched about 3 canvases before I discovered the problem. I still have that 30-yard roll, minus about 200 inches.
* Right, one pigeon is on the shoulder of the figure in the upper-center of the painting.