Waterfall study process...

Last semester I did a demo of me painting a waterfall in oil, here is the method I followed. I was very careful to include each stage of the process for my students; initial thumbnail sketches to figure out composition, design, values, etc. These drawings are probably the most important stage of the whole process, not to sound hyperbolic. After that I like to do a couple of colour studies to establish the basic colour world of my image before I dive in (which is what I used to do with my work in university, much to the distress of my tutors). After those steps, I feel better prepared for the main event, and have more confidence in general about how I'm going to go about it all. Now, I tone my surface with a neutral like Raw Umber or Burnt Sienna. You can tone your 'ground' with whatever you like, but make sure it makes sense for the specific painting you're working on (for example, I wouldn't use bright red for something like a naturalistic waterfall). Then it's time to paint, outlining my basic shapes first, then blocking in my most obvious values, from dark to light usually...

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...