Canvas and Paint Process 4

Final touches. The details need to be brought to life, minute touches of paint describe the form of ropes and canvas. The blue vinyl cover of the front boat must be "shinied" up and the water needs its sparkle added...

This is when I start nearly closing my eyes to see what to do, that and rushing to the mirror to "see" it all fresh and spot the glaring mistakes. I also try to dredge up the smells and sounds of the place, I want to give it that and I know of no other way other that intense concentration. If I get interrupted at this stage I am horrible!
Sometimes, right at the end of a painting I might make glazes of colour to adjust tones. To do this I use Liquin, you can also use Linseed oil. When you have used Liquin it will dry shiny but that can be sorted out by the final varnishing when all is dry.

So here it is, finished and dry. I will seal it with a matt varnish, two coats carefully applied with a soft brush. After that it is off to the framers. I use Sully's in Penryn. I was totally amazed at his work, a frame makes a huge difference and when I get this back I will take a picture and show you.
For this painting I have used small brushes, mostly flats, I have a couple of cats tongue shaped ones, nothing above a size 4. I tend to but packs of soft brushes, ones that say they are suitable for oil and acrylic, I find hogs hair too scratchy for my style. I will also use pieces of card or paper to almost print lines and little shapes onto the painting.

Finally I do try to spend some time really cleaning the brushes well with brush cleaning soap and then rinsing well and letting them dry flat on a tea towel.

You can see the EXACT location of this painting if you go here: Paintmap

I hope that you have enjoyed this sneaky peek into how I work and also that you have found it useful and informative.