Anatomy of an Oil Painting

I’ve started a new oil painting and I thought it would be interesting to share its step by step development with the readers of this web log. The illustration shows the preliminary stages of my artwork, which is inspired by a news photo of a war-wounded Iraqi child. I want to keep this painting loose, impressionistic, and without a lot of detail. The intrinsic poignancy of the theme combined with color laden brush strokes should make for a riveting vignette. My painting is on a 9” x 12” inch panel of gessoed masonite, a preferred support because it provides a rigid surface much like a wood panel. I prepared the masonite with several coats of acrylic gesso (covering the backside as well to prevent warping). I made a pencil drawing directly on the panel when it was dry, the sketch being a simple guideline for the painting to follow. I then mixed a tiny amount of burnt sienna oil paint with turpentine to create a highly transparent wash. Using a sable brush I laid down multiple applications of the wash to give form and depth to the subject and to distribute the lights and darks of the composition. When the monochromatic underpainting was dry I switched to bristle brushes and began to introduce color. At this initial stage of the painting I chose a limited palette of flake white, terre verte, Chinese vermillion, and a few select browns. I used only a small amount of stand oil mixed with turpentine as my painting medium. I’ll post and analyze the next stages of the painting just as soon as they’re done. In the meantime… back to the easel.