A Work in Progress...

Session one - Yellow, in the Mixed technique:

I like to work "wet in wet", which means painting wet paint into a moistened surface. In this case the whole panel is covered with a yellow mediumed glaze, and carefully wiped back off so that the surface retains a slight yellow sheen and tackiness to the touch. I work my colors into that glaze, which means that every bit of paint (no matter what color it is) will also have a touch of yellow to it. This has a wonderful unifying effect. Because if the message itself is the underlying unity of everything, then it only makes sense that the technique also reflects this in some way. My tube oils at this point are cadmium yellow medium, warm gray and lead white (that's all). The yellow pushes the warm gray into its complement (purple) visually, though no purple pigment is used. Cool, eh?

BTW: Because the work is wet-in-wet, there is a small window of time for working before the medium dries - about 12 to 18 hours. This level was done in 8. The short time frame makes each oil session "alla prima", fresh and complete in itself, but also when dry, receptive to future levels of paint.

Predijkherrenrij Grande back, Bruges, Belgium 2010. Mixed technique level 1, over imprimatura, egg tempera, india ink and silverpoint 44 cm x 59 cm