About my painting style

Ok, so what I do is predominantly painting, acrylic on canvas is the preferred medium. In the past I did work in oils and some water color, but tend towards the fast drying acrylic polymers for their ability to work quickly with.

My painting style is well, basically self taught. I just do what I do, it comes naturally and through experimentation and trial and error I have arrived where I am today.I like to layer the paint, starting first with just a white of slightly coloured background. From here, I sketch in the outline of the work. Sometimes straight to canvas and other times after some preliminary drawings. Then I start layering the paint, with the undercolours either working to reinforce the top layers, or to reveal them trough dry brushing successive layers over the top of different colours.

This is a photo of the initial sketch, penciled in first. Many elements that are not at first apparent, go into this process. These include, balance, content, composition and relationship to other shapes and figures.

I usually sketch in the outlines of figures with a brush at this stage. It makes it easier not to outside the lines whilst colouring in!

In goes the sky, mmm pretty blue

Next, I paint in the foreground. this is a specially mixed paint, custom made for me by the monks of a secretive monastery in Italy, using ground pigments from various reptile droppings and mummified cats.

Here is the finished work. “The apparition of St Bilby to the ecumenical council”  This painting took about a month, several bottles of wine and three visits to the chirpractor to complete.

The fact still remains that the individual needs to discover forthemselves the techniques, style and method of painting that best suites them.  The best suggestion I can offer for someone learning to paint is to really “see” what they are observing. Squint your eyes, study the object for several minutes. You begin to realize, hey, that orange fruit is not just orange in colour. Or that shiny silver tea pot, is not silver at all, it’s a myriad of colours and shades, all reflected from it’s environment!

Shane