My mate David

This is for hpx. After such a good day last Thursday, here is phase I of the painting I did. Continued tonight, and haven't quite f'd it up, but had a good go. You may see the final result if it's good enough.

Phase I is a wash in, where I start with canvas painted uniformly (with raw or burnt umber on an oiled board) and subsequently remove paint to show the main areas of shadow and the drawing. This means when I come to mix and use the colours for Phase II, I have already made the decisions about tone, perspective etc. Theoretically the rest is like painting by numbers,hahahaha! Colours are so difficult, because as you all know, they change depending on what's next to them. Another thing is the model and they are difficult to find. For David's first attempt, he was amazing, the best ever infact, in the two and a half years I have been oil painting. Usually what happens is that even if I like the wash in, I am too scared to paint over it, or if I get confident and then get some success, I never get time to finish. Children etc... Anyway, hope you like it.

Thanks so much for all the lovely messages yesterday. It was a very strange and sad day. Maybe I'll explain more another time, but can't imagine many better people to share these things with. Big blip higs to you all xxx