Final outcome of Halo 2026

Carmen McNally, Halo, mixed media relief sculpture constructed from baby clothes, blankets and found objects, 2026

Today I finished and completed Halo, my final piece.

I had to mix the background colour myself, which made me realise that my colour theory skills are not very strong and are something I need to practise. With help from my peer Elizabeth, who is very good with colour theory, I was able to create the right tone that I wanted. I was aiming for that soft baby yellow shade you often see on a unisex baby blanket.

My first attempt was not successful. I tried mixing Yellow Ochre with Lemon Yellow and a grey that I had made using black and white. The result was a pale yellow-green colour that was completely wrong for what I had in mind.

Elizabeth suggested mixing Burnt Umber with lots of white and a small amount of Payne's Grey, and then mixing in Yellow Ochre with Lemon Yellow. She explained that black can often be too harsh when trying to create subtle tones. Following her advice worked really well. The most difficult part was mixing enough paint to cover the whole background, similar to when I mixed the pale grey-mauve colour for the background of Face to Face.

Now that the background has been painted, it has made the figures stand out much more clearly. The feedback I have received so far has been, "Oh, I can see the faces now," which is exactly the response I was hoping for.

The final stage is to create a halo around the side profiles. However, because the figures are already painted white, this has proved quite challenging. I am trying to work out how to highlight something that is already white. I do have a metallic gold paint that I used on my first colourful baby clothes piece, so I tested it around the outline of the faces. Unfortunately, it appears a little too orange and warm for what I am trying to achieve. I think I need something cooler and more silvery to create the subtle glow that I want around the white surface.