Burning … Mister Grin

We started off with a very crude transfer of the final image onto our plywood ‘canvas’.  There are no real details, just edges and blurs where details will go as we progress.

The piece at this stage already has some details filled in (I was too eager and forgot to take any photos earlier).

You can see that the first step of the process is to create the hard outline that will give me a reference point on which to position the details later on.

I always complete the “known” areas of an image before I get to the creative parts where I need to freeform the final details.

In this instance, there are obvious hard black lines around the eyes and mouth that will give me a reference for the more subtle shading and lighter line work that will come later in the process

Here we can better see the contrast between the areas where we have completed the details and the areas where we have only the vague shading of things yet to come – I’ve sharpened up some of the lines, filled in some more detail that was previously only a hint.

If I’m honest, there’s no true method to the order I choose – I simply work through the image picking individual areas that I feel confident I can now complete or move forward.

We approach the finished piece!

All of my work creating the “known” lines has brought me to the point where I now have all of the reference points I need to add the shading to the skin, giving shape and texture as well as showing the direction of lighting for the piece.

The details now pop and this section of the image no longer feels like a mess.  This stage is always a real confidence booster – the doubt that it will ever work is slowly receding.

Here we can see the finished clown – all of the shading and hard line work coming together to create the final, evil, piece.  Overall I’m happy with the outcome – it achieved my objective of a high-impact piece of dark artwork.

This artwork is finished in Parr’s Varnish Oil, a natural and safe finish