I’ve finished the brown layer of the skulls, which means that everything should start moving a bit faster now. I’m very pleased to see how much the painting has opened out, with the skulls streaming out off the sides of the canvas. I’m also very happy with the skeleton’s legs, which I extended so that [...]
Michael Pearce The Traveler, 2010. Oil on Canvas. 96″ x 96″ (284.8cm x 284.8cm)
After three days in bed with the flu, I’ve made it back to the studio for a couple of hours, where I’ve been painting in short bursts, alternated with sitting down and resting with some ginseng green tea, which is becoming a studio necessity. Working despite feeling crappy has been worth it to get the [...]
So close now! I’ve added more foliage to the right side where the convergence of sky, land and foreground was creating a disturbing node too close to the edge of the painting – now the foliage is there it covers the intersection and directs the eye toward the acacia above, so the pleasant wave like [...]
I turned the roses red and added lots of new en grisaille flowers to the painting. On the right, mingled with the roses, a laurel, used by the Greeks and Romans to celebrate victory. Above the roses a spread of tiny forget-me-nots, for remembrance. Behind the traveler I added some Opium poppies that will go a rich [...]
These have turned out pretty well so far. I’ve worked most of the day getting the dark shadows around the flower heads done, adding a yellow and brown centre to each one, and laying down some greens and browns over the leaves. I’ve included some deadheads in this bush to add some rhythm to the [...]
More roses en grisaille. This is tiring work, but it’s becoming more fluid as I do more of it. I’m noticing that my painting is speeding up in application, but that I’m at the stage of the painting where I’m spending longer periods of time simply looking at the piece to work out what needs [...]
The time I found for painting today was mostly spent on cleaning up details and improving work that I’d already established, including an alteration to the grass growing over the bottom of the Traveler’s leg, which was a little too much, some more care for the celtic interlace on the dagger, touchup of the jacket [...]
Somehow the morning slipped away incredibly fast, and I only got this terre verte over the grey grass and the first layer of three dandelions done. I enjoyed the dandelions – a nice soft grey first, thin and wispy, then a centre of raw sienna (with a tiny bit of Van Dyke Brown to darken [...]
I got to work at about eleven and quickly got down to painting rose leaves and bringing the foreground closer to completion. It’s slow work that requires concentration, so I’m taking breaks for that ginseng tea and occasional wandering nearby the studio. I pulled some crabgrass out of the ground next to the creek and [...]
