cc2005 | Christmas Bauta | 2005

Christmas Bauta, 2005

Watercolor, 18" x 24" (personal collection).  I again departed from traditional Christmas images this year. This is what the card had printed inside: Visiting Venice , I was very impressed with Carnival masks and the Bauta - which is considered the traditional Venetian mask - is my favorite.

Not only a Carnival mask it was often used throughout the year to protect one's identity. In a way, the Bauta was a sort of leveler - all ages, all social statuses could get together, wearing a mask which hid their identity. (source, delpiano.com).

Similarly, Christmas is a leveler - when we try to forget our differences and make the best of our relationships.  Once again, I used Shutterfly and printed 130 cards.

My comments - I had my heart set on this concept and felt good after the sketch.  It should have been an easy piece of work and perfect for watercolors, but I was rather displeased with the hand and the mask in the final.

the sketch...

Christmas Bauta, 2005, pen on paper.  I was pretty sure what I wanted for the 2005 Christmas card so I only made one sketch.  Looking at the final product a few things stand out...  First, I like the mask better in the sketch and should have used more contrast and roundness in the painting.  Second, I'm not very happy with the painted hand and that clearly needed more sketching.  Third, I liked the hat in both and really liked the light band on the top of the painted hat.  Maybe I should have just added color to this sketch (similar to Christmas Rig) as it's a better rendering.

Once again, due to my using one-sided paper, you can see some ghost images from some computer print out - probably from the early 90s.  The picture on the left is me wearing a Bauta in Venice. Doreen took the picture.  Looks great in black and white.

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-mm-