Newest Commission

My newest commission is of a man and a fish. I haven't painted many fish before, so I'm interested to see how it goes. It's a beautiful fish, and of high importance in this painting, so I want it to look as slimy as it really is. Wish me luck!

First things first. I drew my initial sketch–these sketches always look weird, and I've had to learn to trust my instincts and that it will eventually look right. The lines locate boundaries, and do not represent the tone within the boundaries, which means they never allowing the initial sketch to look much like the person. For instance, without darkening the eyes, he looks very odd. For this sketch in particular, his hands were the odd part. A cocked wrist and turned fingers plus the foreshortening of the arms made for a funny initial sketch.

You can see that I divided my canvas into 16 sections. I use these as reference lines to get the proportions right. 

When I begin painting, I almost always start by adding the darks, or at least the darkest shade in each area. I'm just trying to lay down a foundation. After this dries, I'll do some pushing and pulling on top. The hardest part of the whole process for me, is staring at white canvas. His shirt is white in this painting, so I'll leave it exposed for now (so I don't mess it up as I go), but for the most part, I like to fill the canvas with paint as soon as possible.

Just filling the canvas with general color areas. I like to work from loose to tight, and oil paints lend themselves to that nicely. 

Again, basic color areas. Faces get a little more attention in this "basic color" stage, just because I don't want to lose the boundary lines I drew in my initial sketch. 

More to come with this painting. Stay tuned.