Two Shores: Step 3
I’ve chosen not to include a detailed description of the process of preparing a canvas in this discussion, mainly because I know Bryan Larsen has discussed it here in part in the past, and because I have already written a detailed article on the matter myself, which is readily available. It will suffice to say that the canvas used for this painting was prepared by myself in my studio using traditional, archival techniques and materials, and was allowed to season for about 8 months.
With the composition now worked out and with the reference material I need safely (and legally) in hand, my next step is to lay a guide drawing onto the canvas.
It’s probably worth mentioning that with a lot of my paintings, a great deal of the overall work is actually sunk into the concept design, composition development, and search for and procurement of appropriate models and resources. Once I’m to the point of actually being able to sit down at the easel and just paint the painting, often times the majority of the real work is already done. This painting is a fair example of that. It took me three weeks to get to the point of execution, and only about 3 days of actual painting time to complete it. With figure paintings, the development of the concept itself can take months, depending on the nature of the theme and subject. By the time the paintbrush first hits the canvas, it’s often pretty easy sailing from there.
My favorite method of working my design onto a primed canvas is to make an inky mixture of gum spirits of turpentine and burnt umber. This mixture dries extremely quickly–almost as fast as acrylic–and can be quickly and easily wiped back off the canvas if any changes need to be made. It also dries very lean (low in oil content), which accords well to the rich-on-lean golden rule of archival oil painting. With this method, I can quickly hash out my design and be ready to paint in short order.
The result is a fairly loose line drawing that gives me an indication of where things will be in the painting, allows me to get straight the lines that need to be straight, and also allows me the freedom to tweak the composition as needs be if I’m unsatisfied with the way it looks on the actual canvas. I don’t bother with any shading, textures, details, or intimate parts of the composition at this stage. All those are still in my head and I know where they’re going to be. But at this point, I’m only concerned with creating the basic framework of the painting that will aid me in the first applications of paint.
