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Step 4 - "Three Tulips" - Painting Demo

Completed Painting: "Three Tulips", oil on linen mounted panel, 5 1/4 x 8 - I began the second day of painting, on a dry surface....the first steps took very little time but were important in setting out my initial concept/design. In addition, by getting paint on the slippery surface and allowing it to dry overnight, I will be able to apply paint with ease and bring the painting to completion. I continue to use a larger bristle brush, better to put the pieces of paint onto this beautiful oil primed linen where it will stay on the surface. I concern myself with the paint quality, re-emphasizing my original design in the dark shadows and also correcting the color of the tulips. They really were this colorful! I loved sculpting these beautiful oval forms with paint, settling them into their surroundings and tucking them into the arms of their greenery. The only downside to this exercise was that on the second day I had to reset-up my tulip still life and it was nearly impossible to get them to sit in the exact way as my initial set-up. I have a fridge in my studio in which I keep the flowers in a water container. This seems to perk them up very nicely after a long day of posing for me in my studio.

Step 3 - "Three Tulips" - Painting Demo

Step 3: Working right into the wet surface from Step 2, I begin to lay in the color of the tulips as I see it before me. Again, I'm not concerned with drawing and using a larger than necessary brush at this stage keeps me from any notion of doing that. I've set out the light area, wiping away the area just in front of the tulips and created my dark area using a mixture of burnt umber, ultramarine and phthalo blues. I've also indicated where my greenery is with some broad strokes of green, which I've mixed. It's just a matter of laying on pieces of paint at this stage. Well, that's true of every stage.....the tulips are pretty bright but that doesn't concern me. I will adjust their color accordingly tomorrow once the paint has dried. My concept/design has now been established and the process from here on is just having fun developing it with paint. I decided to knock down some of the edges of my brushstrokes at this stage with a large 2" flat brush, and in so doing, have created a bit of a blur. You probably thought it was due to less than professional photographic skills on my part, but that's not entirely the case. I'm not sure that I am any further ahead for doing this, in hindsight, because I don't like the look of this now, but live and learn. I will work with it. I leave the paint to dry overnight so that I will have a stable surface to work on and also a more manageable one, not so slippery.

Step 2 - "Three Tulips" - Painting Demo

Step 2: The beauty of this oil primed linen is that you can wipe off your paint and you will find the beautiful surface of your canvas revealed.....this is characteristic of a quality oil primed surface....an acrylic surface is more porous and so, while it's possible to wipe away your paint, there's a possiblity your surface will be stained underneath. In this demonstration you can see that I've simply wiped away the area, with a rag, in which I plan to place my tulips. How hard can that be? Having said this about my beautiful oil pimed canvas, what I love about it, makes my artist buddy, Rick, crazy. He loves his acrylic primed canvases.

Step 1 - "Three Tulips" - Painting Demo

Step 1: I arrive at my studio with these beautiful tulips from my local grocer. As soon as I lay eyes on them, a concept begins to form in my mind and I race back to my studio to set up the still life arrangement under the natural north lit windows. I'm ready to begin. In this little daily painting of 3 tulips I'm working on my favorite oil primed Belgian linen which I've mounted on panel. The linen was toned with a mixture of burnt umber, ultramarine and phthalo blues to create a greyed tone. My main goal in any still life, or any painting, for that matter, is to have a concept in mind and toward that end, I lay on some paint just to get a feel for the space that I will place these beautiful flowers into. As I've mentioned in other demos, this oil primed surface is very slippery. I love it, but it makes the first day of any painting a bit of a challenge just getting paint onto the surface. Here, I'm working with transparent red lake, ultramarine blue and maroger medium. Doesn't look like too much does it? But it's fun, nonetheless. I use a larger brush than I think will do the job, just to make sure that I don't try to get fiddly right off the mark. No danger of that happening here, by the looks of it.

Step 5 - "Best Friends" - Painting Demo

Completed Painting: "Best Friends", oil on linen, 10x8 A little more refining, brightening whites, more color, adjusting the background and the little painting is done.

Step 4 - "Best Friends" - Painting Demo

Step 4: And the whole process continues. I endeavor to not lose sight of my original design and concept. Pushing the lights and de-emphasizing the areas that are unimportant, the area surrounding the girls. The landscape in the background is brightened and the paint quality thicker as I use this area to complete my original concept and design.

Step 3 - "Best Friends" - Painting Demo

Step 3: Continuing to lay in pieces of paint, color as well as non-color, created by bringing the background color into the figures, creating their forms. Their faces are simply pieces of paint created with single, unaltered brushstrokes. I try to lay in the lights in an impasto fashion and not disturb the paint quality. I'm constantly pushing and pulling values...either making areas darker (keeping them thin) or areas brighter or lighter (impasto). This is so much fun!
(click on older posts to go to Steps 1 and 2 of this demonstration as well as other demos)

Step 2 - "Best Friends" - Painting Demo

Step 2: As you can see, I have refined my dark areas. As I mentioned in step 1, it's tough to get coverage on a slippery surface such as oil primed linen, so today I concentrate on creating those dark areas. With a little dry paint now on the canvas, it's easier to work. Also, I begin to lay in color using a larger brush, without worrying about drawing. My aim at this point is to stay with my original concept for this painting. I want to set these little girls into a circle of focus. Everything else in the painting is secondary. This is a lot of stuff in a tiny painting and so my goal is to try to minimize detail in the outer areas of the girls' figures and in so doing, hopefully make this confined space that the girls are in, appear as if it is in a very large space. Does that makes sense? Their faces remain in shadow....this is fun to paint....the mere gesture of these little girls tells the complete story. I am aiming for simplicity and hope to achieve that in the design of light and shadow that I've created. Keeping the distant landscape simple, I use it to add some color and direct the eye to the heads.
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Step 1 - "Best Friends" - Painting Demo

Step 1: I try to approach each painting with a fresh approach in mind and not by formula. So, in this little painting (10x8), I've begun on a white oil primed linen surface, rather than a toned one, which I've stretched myself onto stretcher bars. With a large bristle brush, using my medium of choice, maroger, I block in the lights and darks of my concept. Not being concerned about drawing at this point, just placing my figures in their space on my canvas. This is done quickly. It's difficult to get coverage on a slippery oil primed surface, but I like this....I keep the darks airy and don't worry about the brushstrokes showing. All of this creates possibilities from which to work with. I let this stage dry overnight and can hardly wait to begin laying in pieces of paint tomorrow!

Step 3 - "Petite Ochre Pot" - Painting Demo

Completed Painting: "Petite Ochre Pot", oil on panel, 7x6
And, here is the completed painting. I have just continued to lay on pieces of paint with my larger bristle brush.....more paint, more refining, as I bring the background color in to create the beautiful shadows in the pot's form. In addition, to create space around the pot, I've lightened (made cooler) the surrounding area. You will notice the brushstrokes becoming more impasto in the completed piece, also. I've tried to leave them just as they are. To me, the brushstroke is incredibly beautiful. That's what painting is all about.

Step 2 - "Petite Ochre Pot" - Painting Demo

Step 2: I've let the underpainting dry overnight....blocking in the first step takes about 15 minutes but if I can, I like to work on a dry surface for this stage. Again, with the largest bristle brush I can handle on such a diminutive panel, I begin to really have fun...applying paint! Again, I try not to concentrate on drawing, just enjoy the process of laying on pieces of paint. And of course, color.....the intial stage has captured the concept I have in mind...where the light hits the objects and where the shadow creates the space my little pot nestles into. I push and pull my values, in the darker areas keeping the paint thinner, while in the area of light and color, I've concentrated on color as well as paint quality. I love to see the brushstrokes and I try very hard to just lay in a piece of paint and not disturb it too much. At this stage it's inevitable because the little pot is being sculpted with paint. With brushstrokes, I bring the paint tube into focus, as well. Not too much going on with the berry branch as this point, but I have made a start on it....

Step 1 - "Petite Ochre Pot" - Painting Demo

I use oil primed belgian linen for my larger pieces but for most of the very small daily paintings, I prepare panels. In this case, I began by first gessoing a panel of MDF board with two coats of acrylic gesso. The gesso was applied with a large flat bristle brush in random strokes - you can see the brushstrokes in evidence. Once this was dry, I toned the panel using a mixture of burnt umber and ultramarine blue with turps to make a greyed tone, rubbing off the excess with paper towelling and then letting it dry overnight. I set up the still-life in my studio under natural north light. Always, a concept forms firmly in my mind and at this time I begin to place the objects into the space using a large bristle filbert brush. I used a mixture of ultramarine and phthalo blues and burnt umber for this and concentrate on massing in the light and shadow, not on drawing.....this step takes just a few minutes to do, especially for such a tiny painting. When I can, I like to let this stage dry before I being to apply color. In this example, I let the paint dry overnight....