Step-by-step Demonstrations
My paintings first
start by being inspired by someone or something. This is not as easy as it
sounds as muses come and go and sometimes have appointments with destiny at
the most inconvenient moments. Creating a painting is not so easy, you have
to think in the future but keep your hand in the past and your eyes in the
present. I like having texture under my paintings, giving them life and some
natural effects. I always work in grey first and then paint the colour over,
usually with glazes. This gives a beautiful realistic feel that I enjoy. I
suppose I am supposed to paint to make others happy, but these journeys into
capturing a likeness bring me a lot of joy. There is not any better moment
for me than when I put down a few lines with a 000 brush and suddenly a blob
looks like an eye, and if all went well, like the eye of the person I was
painting.
I often give step-by-step demonstrations to live audiences.
Here are some examples...
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| Grisailles I make a rough sketch using Raw Umber and white. Then I add Pthalo blue, crimson alizaron, yellow ochre. Adding roughness in the underpainting creates realistic skin later. Using a 0.5 inch round brush. Any cheap brush will do. |
Imprimatura Painting outwards from the focal point, sculpting, shaping, comparing... Still using that same round brush. |
Adding a little white to the colours of the skin, and making the shadows
more saturated. Don't make shadows darker, make them richer. Same brush... I like to keep the painting loose by using the biggest brush possible, then add details on top of existing paint. |
Blending out the background, and finally starting on the details with a smaller soft watercolour brush, the best quality possible. |
and some comments:
This painting of my friend Lina was done from life in about
3 hours. Anyone who has written music or books or something knows that special
feeling when you get into the zone and the paint just goes in the right places
on its own. When I am in this mood then I can use any brush, even the cheapest
one in my collection. I struggle to throw brushes away because they have so
much experience. I started the painting using just black and white paint diluted
into ink using some thinners. I'm ironically badly allergic to artists materials
so painting is risky business for me. I'm really drawing at this stage, but
placing the brush strokes rather than dragging them onto the page. As a scientist
I'm always measuring, making relative estimates and calculating flows. The
randomness of the paint is wonderfully liberating.
It's difficult to explain until you see it but its all about putting down
paint in the right place, not dragging a brush across a page and hoping it
will all turn out ok. My paint is very thin and runs all over the place, but
I thicken it as I go, slowly building up density and intensity. As soon as
I start ruining it I stop. It's done. I love all my paintings. Lina had to
virtually arm-wrestle this one out of my hands.
I've had great fun in the past giving demonstrations at art parties.
Why not contact me and set it up?