I am making an effort to share of my process and practices here on the blog. I am in currently working on figurative oil painting on cradled wooden panel - a relatively new favourite substrate for me.

Begging with thinned burnt umber oil paint, I sketched in the layout of the main composition of my figure on the panel. You can see a time-lapse of this underpainting step below.

I left the underpainting to dry overnight before going in with colour. At this point my focus is on trying to give the form volume while paying attention to shadow patterns and mid-tones.

After applying my first colour lay in I often take a photo and assess the picture, looking for parts of the painting needing attention. Using Procreate I make notes and sketch over the image to remind myself of the changes I intend to make.

Below you can see some of the elements which stand out to me at the moment and where I will turn my attention when in my next painting session on this piece.

Left, is how the painting currently looks and right is the same image with very rough digital adjustments and notes.

I find this process particularly helpful when if you I need to leave a few days between painting. I can capture my thoughts at the end of a painting session. It is equally helpful as a warm up exercise when I’m returning to a painting I haven’t engaged with for a while.

When I go back to further work on this portrait I will focus on moulding the forms and bridging the gaps between the colours.

If you are interested in watching me paint live or viewing more process videos, follow my Instagram account where I will be sharing more sessions.