take them at face value 1. Does ' the forms and colours smashed into the tooth of the canvas" mean there is not much color on the surface of the canvas and the canvas is completely flat? 2. Does "glances, all kinds of acknowledgments between these guys" mean "the eyes and looks of the characters and the relations between them"? 3. Does " to what extent I take them at face value" mean how much the figures of the painting look acceptable to me? Context: Once the canvas has been scraped down, eroded, I reconstruct the figures. I go on doing this, making adjustments. The paintings have a raw, porous appearance. The figures are activated against the surface. There is surprisingly little paint on the canvas; the forms and colours smashed into the tooth of the canvas but, paradoxically, aggressively active on the surface. The final adjustments involve glances, all kinds of acknowledgments between these guys, to what extent I take them at face value, to what extent I parody gestures and looks.