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.

75 Paintings Made in 2015

 It's been a busy year. Even with suffering for 3 months with shingles, I managed to create a lot of work in 2015. Much of which is figurative., and one commissioned portrait. I thought the Women Who Changed the World series was finished, but I realized a couple of the images of the women I painted, were weak, and need to be destroyed and re-painted and I want to add one more woman.

I am happy with the 50 Faces, some of which I still have up in my home gallery. Sometimes, I look at them and wonder, "How did I do that?" I know that I get in a zone when I am working on a series and it is almost as if it becomes automatic painting.

Then there was The Messenger Series; Woman artists. All of these can be seen on my website, http://www.ezshwan.com

Now it is time to enjoy the holidays. I wish you all a happy and healthy season.

 Below is a link for a short article in an online event magazine for San Miguel.

http://loccal.org/articles/2015/december/ezshwan.php