Exciting and always a challenge starting a new painting. For me this is quite a large painting of a beautiful and graceful moment that I experienced early in the morning when the air is still and these beautiful giraffe seem to glide across the lowland bush of Southern Africa. I hope you enjoy the journey with me.
After carefully roughing in a charcoal outline sketch, the first marks of paint.
I carefully work in the images of the group of giraffe with warm undertones to “anchor” the image, leaving white canvas where appropriate as oils tend to become more transparent as they age over the millennia so I keep my underpainting appropriate for this. I simply paint the image for the most part keeping the charcoal sketch to a minimum. I have learned to do this after many years of practice. I am still learning to improve as I go. Oils always teach me something.
Progress, with subtle colour blocked in, being sensitive to the layers of colour to follow. I am looking forward to rendering the beauty of these graceful creatures. I’m sure there will be many challenges in the process.
