From Wexford to Kilkenny

Todays the day! Off to Kilkenny where my project really takes off with a COOL looking model posing samori! 

Three Primary Colours.

The layers of three primary colours have now been applied, separated by the layers of white egg tempera.
All possible colour combinations now shimmer though the tempera to the surface suggesting the colours to be used in the final stage of the piece, I love this bit!

The Blue Glaze-Detail.

The Blue Glaze

                                           The blue glaze is carefully applied by hand.

The final coat of Tempera.

The second and final coat of tempera is applied to the yellow glaze. It is not a full veiw of the piece. Please forgive the poor quality of the photo.

"Frank Zappa with Fish"

                                                                 "Frank Zappa with Fish"     
                                                                     Oil/ Egg Tempera
                                                                          51x40 cm
                                     This is a very recent example of my oil and egg tempera work.
                                      It took two months to paint!

Paintings in Progress

           All the planning for my Tattooed project is ready, drawings, ideas from me and the models and we are just waiting to see what day, or it looks like evening will suit all of us.
          SO in the meantime i"m working hard on other work that will be for sale and hopefully submit to galleries.
         I strive to improve on my oil and egg tempera technique.I am so far self taught but will hopefully travel to Austria later this year to study for a three week painting seminar, but thats another story!
        The painting i am working on has yet to be titled. After the recently painted "Lady of Mahon Falls", i have decided to paint a series of nudes(as well as the tattooed project). 
        I have had a model pose in a stream with a long white cloth draped upon her, half wet.
To this i have, am in the process of adding a huge dray horse just behind her. I want it to look golden and light and am thinking of the horse goddess, "Epona"
                                                              Technique
       It is on a 113x 64 cm panel which has had a gesso ground applied and then a layer of deep red oil paint.
        The drawing was already prepared and then transferred to tracing paper. This was taped upon the painted panel with carbon paper sandwiched in between. Carefully drawing over the tracing paper,the whole  image is transferred to panel.
       Then i take perminate black ink and paint carefully over the carbon and then removing the carbon. The result is a thin lined drawing and is now ready for the tempera.
       Tempera is the medium of the old masters and is mixed with egg and pigments which i will explain later. At present i am using it in a tube! Handy! The tempera is applied with a very small brush in a cross hatching technique, this took days as its quite a large panel. The tempera is left to dry.
     The next stage was to apply a thin glaze of cadmium yellow (medium) oil paint mixed with (i use) a medium called "Liquin".
    When this is dry i apply the next and final stage of tempera,  which i am almost finished , until the blue glaze will be applied.