Edge of the Woods

Painting like the masters-- a look
into my process

Painting is a very solitary activity.  To understand what goes into one of my paintings is
to understand the moon and stars.  I will try and convey my process to you although I feel words
will prove to be inadequate to the task.  The hardest aspect of painting is the subject.  Just what
attracts me to a scene, is purely internal.   I know what I want you to feel, and I pick subjects to help
elicit that feeling.    

Vision is one of the hardest things to teach and for artists to learn.  Some may argue you are
born with it or not, others believe you may develop your vision like any learned skill.  Wherever
it comes from your vision will inherently be different than mine.  I am not speaking of an eye
chart, rather a physical representation of a desired result.   What I see and how I choose to paint
I doubt I could ever put into words.  What I can tell you about are the physical steps, which go
into creating a painting.  I spend many hours doing research.  I love to walk or ride my bike in
the woods and photograph potential paintings.  The shadows I love so much change by the
minute, so the only way to capture them is with photography.

Once the size has been determined I begin with pretreated linen.  The Linen is treated with
oil grounds consisting of Lead and Titanium oxide pigments to give me a highly reflective base.

I paint with a variety of techniques, some dating back hundreds of years.  I start with a
charcoal drawing.  At times this will be a highly detailed rendition, others less so
depending on the subject.   The charcoal drawing is then treated with a thin fixative layer. 
This layer acts to seal and hold the charcoal in place.                         

The entire painting receives a thin transparent glaze, called the Imprematura.
Paintings, which will have a cool pallet, will receive a wash of Indian red, a warm red
earth color.  Warmer paintings may get a glaze of Prussian blue or Viridian green.  The paint
is thinned with a blend of Dammar varnish and English distilled turpentine.  The painting
must dry between layers. 

At this point I have a tinted canvas, with the drawing clearly visible underneath. 
The long slow process of adding highlights now begins.  In the areas of the brightest
highlights a thin layer of a white emulsion is added.  The emulsion consists of bonding
agents and Zinc and Titanium Oxide powders.

I work to build up layer after layer moving gradually into darker areas.   
This process is repeated over and over until I have achieved the desired result. 
Ultimately I coat the entire surface of the painting with a very thin veil of white. 

 After allowing this to dry I begin to work on the darkest areas.  Now instead
of white-pigmented emulsion I add raw umber to the dark areas.  Like the
white layers these are thin transparent layers.  You can see right through them.
 Once I have built up the shadows, I add a layer of Flake White paint mixed
with the emulsion on just the darkest highlights. 

Each painting may have a dozen layers of paint before I start painting the surface
you will eventually see as the painting. I do this long process of building up the
layers underneath, so light is reflected back out of the painting.  It gives depth to
the painting.  It is a slow arduous process, but I believe the results speak for themselves. 

No, I did not invent this process; I did adapt it to my painting style. Patrick Bétautier introduced
me to the method.  If you want more information on this process I recommend:
Methods & Materials of Painting of the Great Schools & Masters, by Sir Charles
Lock Eastlake.