May 2, 2021
This is an anamorphic painting, which means it looks distorted unless you view it the right way. The first photo was taken facing the canvas straight-on; the second was taken at an angle. The most famous example of this type of painting is Holbein's Ambassadors, which has a skull near the bottom which has to be viewed at an extreme angle.
To make this painting, I started with a photograph. Then I distorted it in GIMP to match the canvas dimensions, viewing angle, and viewing distance. To get the drawing accurate before painting, I used a projector (photo below).
Finally, to get the colors right, I would paint some color onto a piece of scrap paper and hold that up to the photo. That way you can see whether your mix needs to be lighter, bluer, or whatever.