I thought I would share something about my painting process with my most recent work. Above is what I consider a glowing gem of a painting, but maybe I’m biased because the subject is my beloved grandson. After I had laid in the composition, the drawing, I took a step back or sideways and did a small painting that would traditionally be considered a study, where the artist works out one or more aspects of the painting they want to make. What was different in my approach this time was that on a little 8 by 10 panel I responded to my reference photo, and my memories of the day, by asking: What excites me about this? Then I would make a brush stroke or two on the panel and say, Great, what else excites me about this? And so on until the work felt done. The result was the painting below. The energy generated in this process sustained me through the exacting work of “getting it right” on the “real” painting, and certainly informed my colour choices.
