A Painting Begins...

©2012, R.L. Delight, canvas drawing.

Remember the picture of the canvas frame my mate built? Here it is complete with hand-stretched, sized, and primed canvas. In addition, I have transferred the basics of my drawing. To fill in the details a bit, once I got the canvas on the frame I sized a smooth Belgium linen using Gamblin's PVA size. I like the PVA size for several reasons, the main one being it is not made from animal skins. I followed the sizing with three coats of acrylic gesso, sanding between coats to maintain the smoothness. The canvas is toned with Gamblin's Fastmatte alkyd oil in Transparent Earth Red.
I was planning to use a transfer paper to transfer my drawing but I was not able to find any in my area and I wanted to move ahead. I ended up just rubbing the back of the drawing with a chunky graphite stick by Lyra and then taping the drawing to the canvas and drawing over the lines I wanted with a colored pencil. I used a colored pencil so I could see what lines on the paper I had drawn over. I don't intend to keep the drawing once the painting is finished. After I transferred the drawing to the canvas, I went over the lines with the transparent earth red mixed with ultramarine blue oil paint using a fine brush.
If you saw the drawing in the previous post, you will notice that I did not put in all the detail and shading. I will not be following this line transfer exactly anyway. I will painting from the still life set up. The drawing allowed me to work out some of the possible issues and challenges that may pop up in the painting and also allowed me to determine where to put the musical scripting.
I love to draw but I really see and think better in terms of shapes rather than line. It will be easier for me to refine the composition, proportions, and angles with paint. I am wondering if the upper right of the canvas needs something there to balance out the composition better. It is something I will be thinking about as the painting develops.
So, I am done for the week. The weekends are usually spent catching up on house and garden, life drawing on Sunday, and music. I will be ready to take a deep breath and paint on Monday.
Have a great weekend! I hope to be back to my regular posting schedule on Wednesday.
-Renee