laying the groundwork



I was priming a large piece of coarse jute canvas today with gesso. A long piece 3m x 120cm, rolled out on the mucky floor of the studio.

I took photos as I worked as usual. Of the process and the light and shadows. Of me working. Of the canvas up on the wall. Of the fire.Pondering all the while on what I’ll actually paint once it’s ready



Messed with the photos on Instagram later. Cropped. Negative. Brighten. Contrast. The wee pebble embedded in the rough cement render. In blue. In yellow. The fire. The different rectangles. In triplicate.



The studio is always a painting. In a painting. Of a painting. During a painting.

edges

I paint on both canvas and cradled wooden panels.
With the canvas I generally use a deep edged box canvas, for two main reasons: they can hang effectively without a frame, and as I use a roller with the wax it is important that the stretcher bars are well away from the canvas so I dont get pressure marks from the cross bar supports
The deep edges get loads of marks and build up of paint and wax,, and tgere is a decision to be made about painting them. With these 4, 2 were unpainted at the beginning,nand 2 I had painted a greyish blue at the outset. All 4 were very lumpy, fingermarked and smudged. So I painted them red and green, in a semi transparent mix of oil and wax. I wanted the history of the work to show, but them to look finished. If the eventual owner doesnt like them like this they can frame them
The wooden panels I protect with masking tape, then remove, sand and wax for a sharp finish. In these photos I have just pulled off the tape and not yet sanded and waxed the edges

image

image

image

image

image

image

image