Q: "how long did it take you to paint that ?"

A: "comin' on Fifty years"

Humpback Whale piece with base layers of paint

What's involved in creating a painting?

lightbulb moment: "what if...?"
research images of whales, their habitat, their plight, ...
do some sketches of whales, deciding on what kind of whale to focus on
do some sketches of seaweed and other sea creatures
sketch out plan for composition
think about what I have so far as I drive in my car, take a shower, do the dishes...
rework my initial concept
consider color palettes
mix colors and note the mixing ratios in notebook
rework colors and start again
decided on size of panels and order them...make sure I can afford them...wait for them to arrive
sketch out initial composition
lay down base layers of color
lay down tissue paper layer and cover that with 'acrylic ground for pastels'
wait for it all to dry
go over tissued areas with gouache where wanted
paint over tissued areas with acrylic to define seaweed and sea life details
order collaging materials from Australia...wait for them to arrive in the mail
separate collaging materials by color
cut and arrange the collage materials. Glue them down
Sand the edges of the collage materials to clean up the edges that hang off the edges
cut tissue paper into intricate seaweed shapes to try an idea...glue them down. Rework idea to make it work...involving painting with a glaze of white ink, drawing with ink and graphite...
begin embroidering barnacles and detail on the whale's body...mostly done late into the night
....to be continued

“Please click through on the above image to see more photos of my process...
Please follow me on Instagram (link on site) to get weekly updates on my process to get to the solo show of “Beasts” ”

In addition to working away on the Beasts series I am also working away at the Make Art That Sells bootcamp and preparing myself for the upcoming Global Talent Search. Sketches and refining sketches for the current MATS bootcamp assignment: