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Work In Progress

My Thoughts

For those who may be interested I have included a work in progress section in which I will occasionally include pictures of the progress obtained during a particular project. These pages may take a little time to load because of the number of pictures contained within them.

Lotus

It's a Dogs Life

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Lotus Work In Progress

I am not so sure this is a good idea, I am very much my own person and tend to do things my way. Any art teacher would have nightmares trying to teach me. I take no notice of rules or accepted methods, I start off with an idea and may change halfway through, choose colours simply because they feel right rather then they are right. Simply put I like to have total freedom over my paintings and paint to please myself not anybody else. Anyway you may find this W. I. P. interesting or you may find yourself rolling all over the floor laughing either way I hope you enjoy it.

Stage 1) I gave the canvas a coat of watered down Cerulean blue mixed with Titanium white. The main reason was to stop glare (I suffer from migraine) but it also helps lessen the number of coats needed when over painting certain colours. I normally use a light grey undercoat but decided to use blue because of the colours I was going to use.  Sometimes I will graduate the base coat to aid light directional tonal changes needed later in the painting.

Stage 2) A very basic drawing. I tend not to draw anything if painting from imagination preferring the painting to develop by itself. When inspired by a painting or photo I will use a drawing although I rarely stick strictly to the subject matter. I like the freedom to change and develop the painting to suit my own preferences.

Stage 3) Spray the canvas with a light coat of water based satin varnish. The varnish is well watered down and sprayed using an atomizer. I give it two very light coats with the canvas laid flat to stop runs. The atomizer is then washed out with clean water and sprayed until there is no varnish left. It will block the atomizer if left. The reason for spraying a light coat of varnish is to stop pencil smudges but it also has the effect of delaying drying time which is useful when blending. The same atomizer is used (with clean water) to spay a fine mist to stop paint from drying out when blending. Preparation is now done and the canvas is left to dry. We are talking minutes not hours or days of drying time but I like to separate the preparation from the painting so normally start painting the following day.

Stage 4) I have blocked in the basic colours using a watered down mixture. The strength of the mixture is really a personal choice as is indeed this stage. I personally find it improves the finished result however if I am not painting a pre-planed picture I miss this stage out.

Stage 5) I have started work on what will be leaves by adding some darker tones. Okay if you try really hard they start to look like leaves.

Stage 6) Adding detail to the leaves while at the same time giving some depth to the painting.

Stage 7) I was not happy with the flower under painting so I gave it a thin coat of Titanium white to help with the opaqueness. the photo (due to the flash) is not showing clearly the colour differences caused by the colours beneath the white.

Stage 8) Started work on glazing the flower. I am not really sure what I want here so things may change as I go along. I want the painting to develop itself and tell me what colours to use.

Stage 9) I am working from feel here blocking in colours and adding detail as I feel fit. I did tell you, art teachers would have nightmares.

Stage10) More of the same, blocking in colours and adding detail to the flower. I am trying out ideas while I am painting I may keep to them, I may not.

Stage 11) Yes you have guessed it, more of the same. There is a difference but you may have to look to find it.

Stage 12) I have a good idea what I want now so it is mainly detail work from this point on.

Stage 13) Detail work but can you see spot what I have done? doesn't look a lot but it took some time to get it right.

Stage 14) Don't ask me I lost count, at least you can see what I have done.

Stage 15) Not a good day, I collapsed while painting. Down went David, painting and all. Result I had a bad head and the painting had a hole in it. S*@! now I have to repair the canvas and painting if possible. The white blob is stage two of the repair job. What I done was glue a stiff piece of white cotton to the back of the canvas, over the hole of course. After that had dried I added a layer of white acrylic paint to the front as a filler. I then waited for that to dry and rubbed it down with wet and dry sand paper. I then added another layer of white acrylic paint and waited for that to dry and rubbed that down. This went on for about five or six layers until I was happy with the finish. I then gave it a coat colour to match the background.

Stage 16) I added detail to the repaired area. Unless you look real close the repair is not noticeable to anyone but me so did I save the day? You tell me.

Stage 17) Adding the last stages of detail and finishing off the sides (I am using deep edged canvas) Just one petal left to do

Stage 18) All finished and considering what happened I am happy. It has my style stamped all over it but hey you can blame me for that.

A closer look, but don't look to close.

Take care
Dave

 

Copyright Spiritual Journey 2007

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