Some Painting Thoughts

October is here in its beautiful glory. I appreciate each bloom in the garden, each bird sighting and the  rabbits that continue to visit the yard. I appreciate the view from my studio window so much. I am currently working on completing this bunny illumination. This painting process is slow, methodical and very meditative. I have painted everything so far with a Isabey 6229 size 3 miniature brush. I am using old stock of Fabriano Artistico Hot Press paper and grieving that the paper is no longer available with this amazing quality. It is perfect for this dry brush technique. I really have not found a paper that compares to this old stock of Fabriano.

The underpainting and drawing stage of an illumination take the most time for me. The painting technique is entirely dry brush. I am combining my tried and true dry brush hatching technique with more of a modelling dry brush stage to sculpt dimension.  Even the acanthus has been dry brushed. I was actually dreaming about painting this piece and the colour scheme for the acanthus came to mind. I believe the alstroemeria flowers on my desk influenced the colours. The leaves have been entirely underpainted in a soft yellow and then brushed with rose madder and sap green. I will continue to build up the layers. There are many hours left to go in this design and I don't actually want to rush through to completion. I am still unsure of what colours to add to the florals but that is part of this underpainting stage. It is ok to be unsure of a process and wait until you are ready to proceed.  I have often rushed to completion and been unhappy with the results. Looking forward to seeing what happens with this piece as I finish it up. Sending warm autumn hugs to you all and hope you enjoy whatever projects are on your desk. Take your time...enjoy the process.