We had a very busy day in the studio. Ethan and Joseph were occupied with the second coat of gesso on the big Virtues canvas, then Joe got into stretching the third of the eight foot square canvas that Cyn McCurry sent from Texas onto its panel, ready for a wash of distilled water prior [...]
Tagged rosicrucianThe first layer of feathers reaches to the top of the left wing, leading me to much head scratching and sitting and looking at the painting in order to figure out what to do with the structure of the wings around the top of the arms and shoulders. I want the wings to feel more [...]
More peacock feathers have emerged on the wings, after trying out a green glaze with a little Iron Oxide Red and some Cobalt Blue to create the eyes. I’m going to try a little white highlighting, then a glaze of Ultra Blue to finish them off. On the left there’s another batch of the feathers [...]
A small, very light package arrived from China yesterday, filled with beautiful green and blue peacock feathers, so I’ve re-started work on the wings because they were so overly simple and flat compared to the rest of the painting. So far I’m keeping the work monochromatic, waiting to add the classic eye shape of peacock [...]
I enlisted my kids to help put the first coat of gesso onto the big canvas. They’re really good at helping me in the studio, seldom complaining and usually cheerful, especially when there are donuts and lunch offered as tasty treats. After lunch I shot photos of Hayley, one of my drawing students, who modeled [...]
My daughter and a couple of her friends modeled for me alongside a couple of my students for photos of the Empress, which I’ve also referred to as the Angel of Birth. The shoot went rather well, with my student Karli as the Empress being carried by the other four girls. My plan is to [...]
I’m moving from Amelia’s verdant green springtime to winter leaves, blown to the feet of the angel of death. So far I’ve painted the base of a grey brown, and begun to render the richer orange browns in that delicious Iron Oxide Red that I like so much. The colour is a little intense at [...]
I’ve expanded the range of green leaves across to both sides of the canvas, and I’m surprised to find myself really enjoying the play of the green against the dark background, because I have used green so seldom in the past. I’m thoroughly enjoying this period of foliage painting that I’ve entered. I’ll darken the leaves [...]
I’ve put a glaze of Sap Green with occasional dabs of Iron Oxide to the leaves, then added shadows of black to the edges of the leaves and around the rocks, which has made everything sit together much more effectively. A good solid days work so far, which I hope to continue this evening. I [...]
Here’s a before and after shot of how the first layer of the foliage is going down onto the canvas. First I’ve painted the leaves in grey so that the green has a light surface to lay on, or the next layer of transparent Sap Green would simply disappear against the dark background. It’s reading [...]
