getting a painting onto board Posted Saturday, 15th of January

I paint on board. This is first primed with the acrylic gesso. I paint the gesso on with two or three coats. Once dry it forms a tough and forgivable surface to take oil paint. Now I need to get my composition onto the board.

My work does not go edge to edge. I choose only what is needed and simply leave out everything else. This creates A void of white. Many artists use voids to focus the eye though these voids are more often very dark or even black. Caravaggio would probably be the greatest exponent of this technique.

To get my void I trace around the outer edge of the composition in the centre of the board and mask out the outer area to preserve the white. Painting straight onto white can make colours look jumpy, sharp and somehow unrelated to each other. So I paint on a ground of dark brown which will give the final painting a warmer and more harmonious feel.

While the brown ground is still wet I place my drawing over the top and tape it down. Taking a 5H pencil I trace over the drawing. Drawing over the top has the affect of making the oil paint stick to the back of the paper. This leaves a white outline of the composition when I lift it off. Once this is dry I have a clear idea of where you need to paint and it will never rub out or shift. I can now begin the painting.




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adding all the elements together for a painting Posted Saturday, 15th of January

All the separate elements of the painting are finally pulled together in the composition. There is no real rule on how to achieve this aside from moving things around, re tracing, looking at it all in a mirror and eventually it just starts to ‘work’. This process can be a little frustrating and always seems [...]

creating a composition Posted Saturday, 15th of January

Once the characters have been created they are placed into a series of small compositions. Though these will make a larger painting, each smaller composition has to work in itself. Each can be separated out and make a single painting on its own. I feel this helps the eye move across the whole painting comfortably. [...]

the beginnings of an oil painting Posted Monday, 10th of January

I though I would blog the process I use in developing an oil painting. Initially it begins with a very simple idea or message. This is often very loose and oddly for a painter who paints a lot of architecture the characters can come first. These are often based on people who I have met [...]