Getting Started

In a blank pad I sketch out in pencil a composition.

Next step is to draw in charcoal the composition on a prepared board.

I work on primed board as I have read articles which state that gallery and museum owners have experienced finding canvases chewed by silverfish.  Wood panels are also much less heavy when stacked up.

The theme suggests a color scheme and I then attempt to evoke a certain mood or feeling by the use of color.

Adding Colour

Color undoubtedly inspires emotions, thoughts and memories and I actually use colors other than flesh colors to form the figure in an attempt to bring out these feelings.

I rely on drawings from the live figure as the basis for a good deal of my work but also use my imagination for certain compositions.

My main medium is oil but I also paint in pastel and watercolor.

Watercolor

Within my various years of working with water color, I developed a method I call “Controlled Diffusion”.  This consists of first drawing the figure in pencil, then wetting intensely the paper, then applying a heavily laden brush with strong color and allowing it to move within the figure, then continuing to apply different colors to different areas.

The flowed color must make sense within the figure and the success rate of this method is about 5 out of 10 tries.

The Finished Article

For me a successful painting contains a combination of pleasing color, drawing and a certain amount of freedom of technique, ending up with the production of a painting with a definite character and personality.

The way I test the success of a painting is to place it on my living room wall where I will see it every day.  If I begin to find faults with it I discard it but if I find it pleasant to look at for a great length of time I put it in my collection.  In my oils of women in interiors I like to capture a certain fleeting moment in a woman’s daily routine.

I enjoy the feeling that from a blank canvas or board gradually emerges an original creation with a particular mood and personality.