Process of a painting

"Wein 1910

I found out when I was working on the 50 Faces project that people were fascinated by the process of how I get to the finished painting. It is easy to post the process since I always photograph while working,

Here is "Wein 1910 from the "Memories" series. I start with a few coats of milk paint to create a white, absorbent surface. I use milk paint rather than gesso because that is compatible with encaustic, while acrylic gesso is not.

I start the image with ink washes to define the image. Then I add 2 or 3 coats of clear encaustic medium followed by oil paint washes. I apply the paint, soften it by rubbing and then fuse with a gas torch. You can see that the paint moves under the flame. I use charcoal to get the blackest blacks; scrape with a razor blade to soften and add texture. Finally a added a bit of gold encaustic to frame the title "Wein 1910"

Would you like to more blogs of my process?

ink wash drawing

oil paint and charcoal on the right

More charcoal paint and fusing

I scraped with a razor blade to soften.