This is a another in my series of paintings that have fewer colors, and thus emphasize texture more. This one used to be a painting where I'd glued down old rags made out of T-shirts, then added other texture material such as patching compound and sand. Then I painted a figure over it. But the painting never spoke to me, so I peeled off (hence the title) the rags, used that as an undercoat, then added the fabric and mucked around until I was happy with it.
By the way, peeling off is a great way to add interesting texture; it can result in surfaces that you couldn't create on your own. Mostly it's best to do it once the glue material (I use either white glue or gel) has hardened to the touch but has not cured. Often you'll pull off some of the original gesso, and sometimes you need to be careful or you'll tear the canvas. Not that that's necessarily bad, mind you...
