I got around to finish 3 paintings today:
Portrait of Paul, which I had been working for the past 3 weeks. A painting for a competition that I had been working on for some time. And this portrait of Steve, which I worked on it after completing Paul’s Portrait.
I had initially painted the entire painting with raw umber, and I thought about stopping there, but with two 20 minute sessions remaining, I decided to put colors. The images shown were taken after each 20 minute sessions.
There are many ways to begin painting with oil, but I like to simply begin painting, drawing with oil, rather than spending whole lot of time using charcoal or pencil.
I might make a composition sketch and/or color study, but when I am ready, I simply begin to paint and adjust as I go.
More than ever, I have grown to enjoy painting fast, but for the mostly, I spend about 2 to 3 weeks on a painting. It’s fair to say that I enjoy painting slow, too.
After intense 2 weeks of painting, I focused on fine-tuning the painting. Although the photo doesn’t capture all the changes, this portrait has gone through multiple surgeries this week… can you spot all the changes from the previous week?
After years of painting, I conclude that it takes really long time to see.
Moreover, it takes even more time to mix that color.
This is why I usually paint a small color study—from a live model—before embarking on a bigger painting.
And, what we often fail to understand about painting is its chemistry.
Paint is made of all different parts of earth: soil, minerals, precious metals, oil, etc.
To paint seriously means one also needs to have a thorough understanding of chemistry of colors, painting surfaces, and time.