Squid painting

[cthulhu77]

Having had some nice emails and pm's, I thought it would be fun to show another piece from start to finish...this one will have a squid in it (I can see it now, but it will show up to all of you prior to the end)...

 

[cthulhu77]

Starting out with a piece of hardboard (masonite, smooth) I prime the surface with my own mix of gesso:

After coming up with the initial idea, I use a series of washes to lay down the beginnings of the backround colours:

inbetween layers of pigment thinned down with clear acrylic (this is called a glaze), I dry the paintings on a table with a 75 watt lamp...too hot and you will blister the surface ! (note the stranraer off to the side, drying also):

 

[Jean]

Hi Greg,

I rather like the look of the piece on the left, the sunrise/sunset over mountains???.........Love those colours!


J

 

[cthulhu77]

After laying down 10 to 12 layers of Cadmium Yellow, I start to introduce the reds:

Here we are after 5 layers of red...a few more to go, then onto the next series of washes! I let each wash dry completely, about 10 minutes inbetween each:

 

[chrono_war01]

oo....very pretty.

 

[darquerift]

OOOOO, this is way to cool...watching an artist at work!! Do continue please.

 

[cthulhu77]

Sorry about my 24 hour hiatus...ate a rather bad jalapeno chili cheese dog yesterday morning, and spent quite a lot of time being sick...ah well, back to the painting!

I have added on 3 layers of blue glaze here, you can see that the areas that were previously yellow are now green, not from mixing the pigments, but by layering them ! (that is what imparts the glow):

After these coats have dried a bit, I go back into just the water area and add in more Ultramarine blue to deepen the colour:

Notice all the high tech equipment...I love pot pies, and save every aluminium dish as a mixing platform!!!

 

[cthulhu77]

and after that has dried for a while...I put in the moon and the beginnings of the little squid in flat white...:

 

[cthulhu77]

more white detailing is added, as well as the vibrant crimson colours to the moon and the squid...and look at the sky, it's full of stars! :

After the whites are laid down, I go over everything with at least three more coats of yellow glaze to soften things and make them glow a bit:

 

[Tigerkatze_82]

niiiice

Very nice work
Keep posting your artwork

TK

 

[cthulhu77]

Thank you all ! For those of you willing to go out on the financial limb, you could see what this lovely piece looks like close up:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3782087121

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Is there going to be a last-minute bidding war? I know that has been ranting on about this. Hmmmm. I'd be toast.

 

[cthulhu77]

Have had a flurry of emails on this one...would love to see Kat end up on the happy side, but have not heard from her !!!! (whatya guys busy or somethin????)

 

[Steve O'Shea]

whatya guys busy or somethin????

It takes a lot of work/time feeding 20 colossal squid - I'm going through 1 submersible, 20 students, 40 penguins and 80 cows each day! Do you know how hard it is to muster 80 cows each night, under the cover of darkness, and to shepard them through the university, then conceal them in my office?

 

[Infusoria]

I'm sure I've told you not to eat the shoots from that cactus in your office...