Q&A: Underpainting

I've been asked if I use underpainting and, if I do, why? Yes, and I do because it's a handy little tool. I find that initial wash sets the tone and these areas, which remain uncovered by the opaque layers above, add a subtle bit of interest and an extra dimension to the finished work. Partial or total coverage, warm or cool – whatever is required.

Transparency

The monotypes (see previous post) were fun, but I fancied a bit of colour again. So I decided to produce a couple of acrylic landscapes. I wanted to retain the simplistic structural elements, and linear composition, of my recent monotype work, ie., concentrating on basic shapes to portray the wider, panoramic landscape. I thought it was time to experiment too. Going back to my roots, I thought I would try some watercolour-esque washes of dilute heavy-body acrylic. These translucent washes added a new dimension to my work… I even left the canvas unpainted in one. To be honest, I'm still fond of the opaque blocks of colour, that so often frequent my work, so it was nice to strike a balance between the delicate nature of the wash and the robust heavy-body brush work in these two new pieces (below).

Daybreak over distant tors

Dark edge

Adventures in monotypes… the beginnings

Hi. Long time, no post. However, I have not been idle… I've been doing lots of DIY actually, plus a little painting, and a little experimentation. Here's some of the things I've been doing whilst I'm waiting for the paint to dry, the plaster to set, the drill's battery to charge (insert plausible excuse here).

Dark ridge-3/monotype

Storm over distant tors-1/monotype

Monterey cypresses-1/monotype

Looking at it…

After a few tortuous hours this painting (below) was, finally, born. At first, I just couldn't stand the sight of it. It spent a couple of days hidden away amongst my reference sheets, then a further couple of days on shelf-top display whilst I decided its fate. Weird? Perhaps. But, my painting 'process', can be arduous to say the least! Anyway, after allowing it to 'prove', I grew to accept this painting, and it certainly met the original brief: cold, icy, windswept, bleached. Just a shame it was such a hard birth.

Winter prospect

Pinterest is your friend…

On the (extremely) odd occasion my advice is sort in respect to art and artistic development, and I always try my best to answer as succinctly as I can. This fellow artist (and a very good one too) asked if I could point him in the direction of some other artists who, in my opinion, fuse the (almost) real with strong abstract dynamics. Easy. They can be found here: http://www.pinterest.com/paulbaileyart/open-door/; http://www.pinterest.com/paulbaileyart/illustration/
So please take a look too.

Working up…

I thought you might like to see how I work-up my paintings. I normally apply a slightly diluted wash to the paper first. It's not revolutionary – plenty of artists do it – but I find this process helps overcome that initial fear when presented with a blank piece of paper, and provides a key to work to. I then paint some of the darker areas. Subsequent opaque layers are applied in a hit-and-miss fashion, thus allowing the colour underneath to show thorough. I like the roughness of this process.

The initial washes

Sutherland storm

Something different…

I fancied a change from my usual landscapes. I needed to find the right subject to work from, so when I managed to capture my other-half and son taking a daytime nap I knew I had something to work with. I was reasonably pleased with the end result, especially considering this is my first effort in ages, but there's plenty to learn… and you only learn by making mistakes and pushing yourself!

The original photo

At rest