The Painted Diary

When I first started painting I was lost. Although I can draw,  having a clear way to proceed with painting left me trepidatious; where should I start? 

As a Commercial Illustrator, my process was always fairly straight forward given the type of work I did most;  layout, design, Illustration, drawing and integration with typography. So, for painting, what I did was to approach painting from a similar methodical perspective;  do a layout incorporating familiar elements of design, and composition, make colour notes and forge ahead "drawing" with a brush using just one colour to create an underpainting. I often left pieces like this, they look pretty cool ... or was I just afraid? 

Overwhelmingly yes! That was where my experience and confidence ended ... although valid steps as the basic drawing and composition was concerned, but this is where I had no further process figured out. Colours, mixing, fat over lean, thick over thin, hue, values ... all of which can still leave me paralysed in front of the easel unless I follow a basic painting process. 

Knowledge is liberating. Having a basic process to proceed confidently in a definitive direction is actually very liberating. That knowledge also allows me to experiment along the way if I desire.

I have included a breakdown of the steps that I followed for the small oil painting above of "Edgrr".

1/ First, I always do sketches on paper to work out important inclusions and to establish a pleasing composition.

2/ Then I very loosely sketch the subject onto the panel using sanguine chalk, then a more detailed sketch using #2 and #4 Bright brushes and thinned Transparent Red Oxide.

3/ Once the "drawing" is correct, I then establish the basic underlying colours to describe the form in terms of light and dark shapes and block them in. 

4/ When I am sure that the shapes are working together, I then indicate the darkest darks. Here is when I also move to the eyes as I am  warmed up, confident, and more importantly, I want the eyes to integrate with the painting so the hair/fur needs to be painted around and some even over the eyes, so that must be done after the eyes are painted. 

5/ From this point everything works in tandem, understanding that generally, the elements to be painted last depend on what will be seen first. The highlights are painted last. 

Small or large, my process is usually the same. I prefer painting alla prima due to the effect of wet into wet, plus the usually fresh spontaneous results when a painting is completed in one sitting.