PAINTING TECHNIQUES

Acrylic paint is a no holds barred medium where virtually any painting technique can be used. As an artist you are able to give full reign to your creative ability with very few restrictions. The fun for me has been experimenting over the years and gradually developing and refining my own unique painting method. I wanted to create a technique that would give me the same degree of spontaneity that I enjoy with chalk pastels. Where strokes of dry colour are drawn on tinted rough textured paper, using the underlying paper texture and colour to give liveliness to each stroke.

This I have achieved by making my own painting boards. I bond stretched cotton canvas on to thick MDF board with diluted PVAc adhesive. An acrylic modeling paste is then brushed on to build up a texture to suit the effect that I want to achieve in the finished painting. Finally I apply a thick coating of an absorbent acrylic gesso to complete the process.

I usually start with an underpainting to map out the composition and to establish the colours and tones. Sometimes the final gesso coating has been strongly tinted and the painting gradually emerges out of this darker background. Successive layers and glazes of paint culminate in the use of a dry brush technique or scumbling with thicker paint. It is at this point that the underlying surface that I have created on the board comes into its own, enabling me to produce intricate patterns and textures without the need for detailed brushwork.

The painting is sealed with a matt varnish that gives it a silk sheen.