And so today I went back into the studio, music on and that was it - it felt fantastic to be back painting again, and I am very focused on completing the two pieces I am working on at the moment. Although both are as yet untitled they are a continuation of my "Essex" series. One is of Balkerne Gate (see my previous posts), the Roman gateway in the wall around Colchester, and the ruins of St Botolphs Priory; again within the city walls of Colchester.
Both are fascinating landmarks with very human stories, which is why I am painting them.
So today I worked on the underpainting of the sky for the St Boltolphs piece...
I began by adding and then blending red, cadmium red, and cad yellow with then some brilliant yellow to lift and add light. Into this I then worked grey and contiued to mix differing shades before finally adding a blue to give richness and add drama.
Once all colour had been added I then used a fan brush to blend the colours and take bake the brushmarks. As this is the under-painting I didn't want the brushstrokes to be too visible as I will go on to paint transluscent layers of colour over the top at a later stage when it's dry.
So below are closer details of the surface of the canvas; I now need to leave it several days to dry before working into it any further.
Keep coming back to see the progress.
