“Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand”

©2026 ‘58 Corvette (work in progress), Maria Morris

I left the ’58 Corvette’s border naked while I painted the guts, avoiding the mess that pencil can make and white paint or gesso can’t always cover. As I paint, the heel of my hand oftentimes smears the graphite.

With the bulk of the collage finished, I attempted my usual method of image transfer. First, trace the pattern onto vellum, then slide carbon paper between the tracing paper and the canvas, and draw over the lines. This works well for nearly anything other than an intricate Celtic rope design with thin lines and a precise repeat.

Side one was a warm-up lap. A stretch, if you will. I was rusty. I hadn’t painted something this fussy in a long time. By the third side, the outcome was decent. Decent enough for me to publish and share.

I got the feel of the pattern without constantly referencing the printout. I found a progression that seemed to work—paint the black lines, touch up the mishaps with white, rinse and repeat. Black. White. Black. White. One rope cluster at a time.

The uniformity was not there, and it bothered me. I could do better. My usual method of image transfer was partially to blame. The original ’58 Corvette collage is only three inches square. When I printed the highest-res JPG file I had at 400% for the 12" X 12" canvas, the details got less crisp. Additionally, the canvas texture sometimes caused the pencil tip to catch and hiccup. While I followed the lines, the result wasn’t clean.

So, I painted over side two and started again—this time with math. I measured. I created a grid. I dug out the circle drafting stencil, circa 1970, the millimeter ruler, and sharpened my Ticonderoga to a beautiful point.

Having the guidelines helped. Results improved.

My husband has joked that my 2/0 paintbrush is essentially an eyelash. Maybe more like seven eyelashes, but still. While this fine-tipped brush is perfect for this intricacy, it doesn’t fix my sometimes-shaky hand. So even with the border more cleanly drawn, the paint progression was the same as in earlier attempts. Paint the black lines, touch up the mishaps with white, rinse and repeat. Black. White. Black. White. One rope cluster at a time. Perfection won’t happen, but the output is decidedly better.

Stay tuned for the finished piece.

The original collage

© 2006

Paper on canvas

Image size 3" X 3"

Finishing: 4" white matte in a black wood frame

Themes:
Converse All Stars, corn, asparagus