I was asked if I would paint a particular scene in rich colours. Now my palette of colours is normally fairly muted but that doesn't mean I can't paint any other way. A group of artists who were my greatest influence growing up were the Pre-Raphaelites. They are well known for their deep rich transparent colours. I have studied the techniques and their manner of painting. This isn't going to be a quick painting.
I won't go into too much detail but the first and most time consuming part is preparing the ground. I chose a hand prepared board triple primed by myself and rubbed down in between the first coats and checked carefully for any raised parts or blemishes. (The Pre-Raphaelites were among the first artists to use a white background. Prior to that it would have been earth colours).
I have chosen a specific set of colours all nearly transparent and Artists Colour, the highest grade of pigment.
There is no dead colouring or first layer, the paint is applied with an oil rich medium in a series of glazes. Anyway I am going a bit too deep now I can hear people falling asleep.
I have started with the sky working down the board from the top. It is practical and saves working over the wet painting and also allows me to judge the tones (darkness and light values) of the rest of the painting. So there is the first stage complete after 3 days work.
Yesterday Alex and I went to the Scarlets v. Leinster game. Safe to say I came away with a large smile.
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