Is this finished? I’ve hung it up to dry, but every time I walk past I get the urge to tinker some more. It’s hard to stop fiddling, which is possibly habit over intuition – if I have some paint left over from something else, I find myself wondering, ‘will this go with Blue Chocolate?’ Being oil paint, it’s so easy to wipe away if it doesn’t work, so I whack it on, stand back and decide. Then I wipe it off, usually.
The white drips in the bottom right hand corner started life this way and nearly disappeared until gravity kicked in and dragged them dribbling in the right direction (yes, I eventually stood the canvas up).
I created a palette map with the colours used as a paper trail with names and proportions recorded. This kind of ‘colour diary’ is fun and helps keep me organised without the frustration of forgetting how a colour was made. It also keeps me on track when a limited palette is required. Having a record of the colour/tone/shade/tint that I’ve used, also helps to unlock the power of old friends – palettes that have served me well in the past.
Oil on canvas, a commissioned painting near completion .
- Palette: UMPTON oil paints – Cerulean Blue, Pthalo Blue, Payne’s Grey, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, Pizzuoli Earth, Yellow Ochre
- Underpainting: Burnt Umber
- Materials: Calcium Carbonate, wax, Windsor & Newton Liquin medium, Low Odour Solvent, masking tape
- Techniques: knife painting, imprinting, brushwork, build-up, tonking, dry brush, wet on wet, impasto, masking
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