The Malignant Flower process...

I was going for a certain atmospheric quality with this painting, and I think I've gone some way to achieving that. The background was patiently built up with multiple glazes, Burnt Sienna followed by Ultramarine Blue, layer upon layer, and so on until I got the desired affect. I think darks achieved in this way tend to be more dense and velvety, but you really need to be willing to wait. Each glaze (and there are definitely a dozen at least) took about two days to dry, sometimes three depending on how much medium was used. It's not a technique for everyone, but I like the result if you can spare the time needed. I also glazed in the rose, which I felt was needed to give it that luminous glow that only glazes can fully achieve. The first step was to glaze in a layer of Titanium White, then I built up alternating layers of Quinacridone Red and Phthalo Green until I acquired the depth of colour I was after. Again, it takes patience, but I think it's worth it. The figure was painted more loosely, along with the desk and the vase of flowers. I tried to get a particular kind of texture on the desk, in which I painted in an initial layer, then when I added a second layer, I scraped and scratched it with a palette knife to reveal the original layer to give it a worn look. I'm not going to go into detail about the theme of the painting here, I'll let the viewer interpret it for themselves...