My Painting Process

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today I thought I would discuss my painting process and techniques.

When I am painting, I like to create my own interpretation of landscapes and seascapes rather than focusing on my work being a photo-realistic representation. I prefer my paintings to look painterly and to be able to see the brush strokes and textures.

Before I start a painting, I usually make thumbnail sketches of what I am going to paint and other possible future paintings. I feel it’s important to keep drawing to record and visualise ideas, but also to express creativity, and emotions. Sometimes I would have observational drawings I had sketched if I had chance to draw when I was out and about. During my studies I would often go up to the castle in Aberystwyth and sketch as well as sit in cafes and sketch people coming and going out of the cafe.

Aberystwyth Castle
Borth Sand Dunes Sketches

My medium of choice is oil paints and I use canvas to paint on as I prefer the bounce back you get compared to other surfaces like wooden boards. My go to brushes to use are square brushes and using larger ones allows my mark making to be expressive and to build up more texture. Before I start a painting, I prime my surface with gesso, this protects the canvas and makes it less absorbent and smoother. Once this is dry, I start a base layer of colour and mark off different sections of my composition. From here I add more layers of paint and detail until I am satisfied the painting is finished.

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