Today I took on a new apprentice named Taran. Not an apprentice in the real sense. (Taran is my son.) And this apprentice began working on the background of my last portrait. I don’t do portraits anymore, and yet there is one last one to do. There are portraits of all my family, bar one. Little Sky. So, I’m on my hols in the Dales for several days. And this is the perfect opportunity to start this portrait. So Taran, my eight year old, began painting in parts of the background for this portrait, then using a mop brush to flog out those despicable paint ridges. After he’d finished he declared I owe him £2! What for?, says I. For painting the background, says he. You’ve been paid with knowledge and experience, says I. Baa humbug, says he.
I may enjoy the adding of layers to this painting. Da Vinci apparently never finish La Giaconda. It was a work constantly receiving additional layers. One of the difficulties of multiple glazing is the build up of texture on the surface. From this texture (and dust which settles on the surface) further glazes of paint can ‘pool,’ causing problems. But I use painting medium rubbed over the dried surface, then using a beveled razor blade I gentle scrape the entire surface of the painting removing all dust particles. Then I rub half an onion over the surface. The acid allows the surface to receive and bond with subsequent glazes. I actually using many variations of this technique, each variation differing in minutiae. I do enjoy this process. I’m sorry to see that it’s no longer prominent in my art practice. But with this last portrait I get to use it again. I’m using a verdaccio underlayer and not a grissaile. Grissaile being monochromatic, verdaccio having a greenish hue. I think this greenish hue works better for bringing out a sense of human flesh.
To the apprentice: your time will come.
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