I don't know how other artists transfer their designs on to canvas, if they sketch it out straight on to the canvas or just go ahead and start to paint from their imagination. I have never been bold enough or confident enough to sketch straight on to the canvas for fear of making a mistake and not being able to erase the pencil line.
Sometimes I do draw on a black or dark background in a white chalk (dress makers pencil) that can be removed by water but even then it sometimes leaves a residue. So with trial and error I devised my own method of drawing out my design on ordinary note pad paper ( sometimes any old paper I have to hand - telephone bills, envelopes, newspaper - you never know when inspiration is going to strike!)
so once I have my design on paper I erase all the vague and unimportant lines so only the bold outlines remain - next I turn it over and draw over all the lines with a black charcoal pencil. With toilet paper or tissue I then rub the charcoal over the underside of the design to fade it so it's not too dark and to get rid of excess charcoal powder that could mix with the paint layer and make it murky.
So then it's just a matter of laying the paper down and tracing the design onto the canvas. I use a ball point pen that had run out of ink. I don't press too hard because I have learnt from experience that grooves left by pressing hard causes all kinds of havoc if you change the design whilst painting and there are underlying grooves beneath the paint - eg: if you move the mouth on a face or the position of an arm. I guess essentially I am just creating my own "carbon tracing paper" and they can be used over and over just adding more charcoal when needed. That's why I use the pen with no ink as tracing over and over the lines with ink will eventually cause it to tear.
And with that done I get busy painting...
I usually paint the flesh all one colour and then add contours, shape and highlights with darker and lighter paints - I find it hard to blend colours once one paint layer is dry ( especially in my climate where my paint dries so quickly) so some times I resort to coloured pencil and even aquacrill pencils. If the pencil is too dark or not the right colour this can be corrected with some watered down flesh colour or even white paint to smooth it out and even the graduation.
Facial features are added using techniques I learnt in Suzi Blu's book mixed media girls. You can get it at www.alovelydream.com or as I did on Amazon because she couldn't ship to my country. But just remember it is always better to buy directly from the author so she gets all the money$$$ !
The key with painting eyes is to build up the layers slowly slowly until you have achieved the depth you require. As my girls don't usually have noses or mouths I need the eyes to be very deep and hold all the emotions I am trying to convey.
Et voila! The finished article, look who just swam by......
Mounted canvas prints of this painting are available through my Facebook page. www.facebook.com/lionfish.seychelles so stop by and have a look at my other work and if you like what you see please like and share my page 😉
