Sunday, February 15, 2009

Evolution of a Painting Part I










A number of people have asked me how I paint. I thought this blog would be a good opportunity to share my method with you.
First of course is the research. My recent trip to Antarctica provided lots of great reference and I have chosen to start with some action from Adele penguins.

Step 1: Gather reference
Step 2: Prepare and gesso untempered hardboard
Step 3: Work out the composition and draw on the board (as seen above)
Step 4: Use a light turpentine wash to seal the drawing. I like a mixture of raw sienna and burnt sienna.



Step 5: Add more pigment to the turpentine wash
and start creating a value study with the wash.

Step 6: Wait for turpentine wash to dry and start painting.
I like to use a wet-on-wet oil technique and I keep blending the edges.

Once I have the background and some of the foreground in, I then start on the animals (my favorite part.) This time, I will be working on the penguins as a demonstration at my next show.
Natureworks, Tulsa OK
February 27th - March 1st, 2009
For more details, see http://www.natureworks.org/
Check back to see the completed painting.