One of my great joys in life is the process of creating a valuable artwork that people enjoy from just an idea and that I created myself.
I start by building my own stretched canvas on a timber frame.
Building the wooden frame the size I want and then stretching and stapling the canvas to it.
I then apply the canvas with 2 coats of Gesso (a mixture of white acrylic paint and plaster) to the surface of the canvas, sand papering between coats when dry. This fills the canvas weave and creates a smoother surface to paint on. It also helps to spread your paint further as it doesn't soak into the canvas as far and helps when painting detail.
Next comes what to paint.
An idea or a scene or a picture I have seen.
The basic shapes and composition is then drawn onto the canvas in pencil as a guide to where you are going when you are painting it.
I start with a large brush and block in the colours and shapes starting at the top and working my way down. (Your paint can drip so best to let it drip underneath so you can paint over it) My oil paint is mixed with the brush on a tear off A3 oil paper pallette with some medium (linseed oil and varnish) and low odour turps to help thin the paint to help it spread.
Once the large shapes are blocked in with paint and the canvas is completely covered then I let it dry for around 3 days.
If you don't let the oil paint dry between sessions then the colours can mix together and become dirty.
The next session you use smaller brushes into specific areas to add some detail. Then even smaller brushes to finish off detail and to sign and finish the painting.
My next stage is to get a high resolution photograph of the finished original painting for marketing the finished work on my website and social media. I invested in some good dome studio lights, digital camera, tripod and an Apple iMac for post production in photoshop, so I can do it all in house.
Also then I can make Fine Art Prints and Greeting Cards from the images.
It’s also important to keep a record of all your paintings on a spreadsheet with Date of Creation, Title, Size, Price, Date of Sale, Catalogue number and who bought it when sold.
So from nothing I have now created an Original Oil Painting, Fine Art Prints of various sizes and Greeting Cards of the image.
Very satisfying.