Portrait - Painting Or Overpainted Photo

Having trouble determining if original painting or painted over photograph.
What do you think?

 

It looks like some sort of photographic process up close. No paint is ever that smooth.

 

There is a Michael Gaskell that paints in a very realist style. I don't know how he signs or if he does retro style paintings.

http://www.michaelgaskell.net/portfolio/

example of his painting

 

I don't think that's the same person. Your Michael Gaskell was born in 1963, but the subject of the OP's portrait appears to be dressed in 50's clothing style. I suppose it's possible that someone wanted a portrait painted more recently from a much earlier photograph, though.

 

That's a classic New Look dress - call it late 40s to mid 50s. Is it just me, or does everyone else see a nurses's outfit every time they look at the portrait too? It's that all-white dress and hat, if a much nicer one than any nursing uniform of the era.

 

It looks to me like maybe a textured surface coating applied over a photo or print to give the effect of an oil painting.

 

I wonder if that's her wedding outfit?

 

The woman is a painting and not a photograph painted.

 

Looks painted on burlap?

 

Wedding portrait. (No nurse has deep red talon-shaped nails.) Posed for after the fact or she would be carrying bouquet. And she's wearing both engagement ring and band. Date range as above. IMO.

Debora

 

And probably done by a home town artist.

Debora

 

So the even texture would be caused by the canvas?

 

My vote is over painted photo or some other photo process.

I also vote for the possibility that's she's simply a woman in a white outfit.

 

That's a toughie, isn't it? I suspect it's a painting probably copied from a photo. There are techniques that go to great lengths to eliminate any trace of brushstrokes. It was the common practice in academic paintings of the 19th C.

There are also techniques called photo-realism and magic-realism that do much the same, though I think they would post-date this.

I think she's modeling the outfit, most particularly from the pose of the hand.

 

The canvas appears to be burlap and yes it would look like that.

After sleeping on it, I want to mention that I cannot figure out the picture of the back(?) of the painting, I guess I cannot see it properly?

Also after sleeping on it, it's possible that this is a photo-image reproduced on burlap of a PAINTING of a model wearing white with a ring.

Painting on burlap is very difficult to do and there are no painterly marks of paint blobbed into the weave of the fabric.

 

I don't think this was painted on burlap. It looks like a textured board that was varnished or the textured piece was added after the painting was finished and then varnished. The varnish coating built up in the corners of the small squares giving a darker, uniform appearance.

 

My vote is a photo-transfer on canvas board with a gloss varnish and not a gel medium as it appears the varnish has settled in the canvas recesses in the photo with the signature.

 

Look at the photograph of the hand, that was painted. You can see it more clearly on the finger nail and the ring. I just looked at the website that SIS found. He has an email contact on his page. Email a link to this and see if it is his.

 

The hand/ring should be proof enough that this is not a photo-realistic painting.

 

I agree that it doesn't look like a photo, but think it could be a print taken from a painting, printed on a textured surface, and then coated.