“The Making Of” Paintings
Ranchita Arroyo Grande Morning
Starting a new piece called, Ranchita Arroyo Grande Morning. It will tell a story of one of the most serene places I have ever been to in my life. “The Making Of..” pics will follow soon.
The Artist’s Eye – details
At this stage of the painting, I have over 20 hrs of work. I add my smaller detail brushes, sizes 0 and up, to my repertoire for the day and begin the details. Visuallly, the changes are minimal. Can you see the differences? I am now, for the first time, making a conscience effort to … Continue reading
The Artist’s Eye – large details
I set my larger brushes aside and move to smaller sized rounds for adding and blending the initial detail work. Changes are subtle as I move all around the canvas correcting color, shapes and values. My easel is setup next to a closet with mirrored doors, so as I work I can view my progress … Continue reading
The Artist’s eye – Midtones
 While my dark contrasts are still wet, I like to move right into the midtone values. This allows me to move the oil paint around and blend more easily, so I can keep the structure of the different elements in check. I am still using filbert brushes (as large as possible) for these initial … Continue reading
The Artist’s Eye – Laying in the darks
 Next I start laying in the darkest values. The painting starts looking weird again at this stage due to the extremes. I am not concerned with detail yet and even the structure will be fine-tuned at a later point.
The Artist’s Eye – fill layer
 Using a medium sized filbert brush on the flat side, I start laying in fill color. My goal here is to fill the entire canvas with the first layer of paint. This layer has less Turpenoid added in the paint mix to the consistancy of sour cream. In oil painting, you need to paint … Continue reading
“The Artist’s Eye” – oil on canvas
 After the canvas is Gesso covered and dried. I begin by sketching right on the canvas with charcoal. Next, I begin the underpainting process mixing the colors with Turpenoid to a ‘watercolor’ consistancy. The entire canvas is covered with this thin oily mix in base and complimentary colors. Some values are emphasized to keep … Continue reading