I just started a new painting in the last few days. I have been posting up some things on facebook but I thought I would put it up here too. I always enjoy getting to see inside others process, so I will make an attempt to describe mine. Note that I will continue to update THIS post with new content as I go, so check back.
stage 1
This is a 36″ x 36″ mahogany faced panel. I do the following steps to prepare my surfaces.
1. The panel is sanded and coated all over in alcohol-based shellac. Two or three coats brushed on and sanded lightly in-between coats.
2. Next the panel is covered in three or four coats of acrylic “gesso” I use Golden brand generally. I alternate brush on directions and sand in-between every coat.
3. The last thing I do is put on a base coat that has the following mix.
About 90% burnt sienna and 10% cadmium red mix is added to a medium mix of about 60% alkyd medium and 40% Turpentine or OMS.
This coat is MOSTLY medium, its a tinting coat and if It’s mixed properly, it will be very shiny gloss and “glow” in the light. Now the panel looks like a giant jolly rancher.
Now we are ready to draw. Yay!
stage 2
I do my drawings in charcoal. I work from life and photographs or photographic collage. This is about 10 hours or so of drawing, erasing, drawing, etc. Sometimes I do preliminary drawings in pencil or charcoal, mostly to work out compositional issues. It took me a long time to realize that composition issues HAVE to be worked out first and that no amount of clever painting can fix it later. There are still some drawing details that need to be worked out here, but I am ready to move on to the next stage. At this point I am going to spray the canvas with Krylon workable fixative (you can also use retouch varnish) to set the drawing for the next stage, “inking”.
