Friday, August 20, 2010

Oil on Wood Study

I have always been interested in the old masters and their various painting techniques. One thing I have been wanting to try was painting on wood. I have previously painted on gessoed panels I prepared myself, but they were to absorbent and I couldn't get the smooth, wet strokes that I like with a fine weave linen canvas.

After researching creative paintings that still embody traditional techniques, I immediately thought back to the wood panel and how it could be used in a more contemporary way. Being a sucker for the beauty of wood, I knew I wanted to make it part of the painting—not just what the painting is on. This use of grain isn't a new idea, but has predominently been used by illustrators, not necessarily fine art.

I just finished this little study to figure out the technical issues and to find out if painting on wood could work for me. I don't know if I'll continue on and develop a large "studio" painting, but I think there are a lot of creative ideas that can evolve from this.

Let me know what you think.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely little head you painted.

I've been using cherrywood faced plywood boards at both 1/4" & 1/2" thicknesses. Absolutely love them!

David McLeod said...

interesting. keep at it and you could definitely have something striking. the wood grain and warmth stand out too much to me.

I saw your work for the SWA 21under31 last year...I'm in this year's article. Nice to meet another young artist. Keep up the good work.

www.davidbrucemcleod.com

Taaron Parsons said...

nice work, man. the mouth and nose area are especially well drawn. good form there. i wouldn't mind seeing just a few more defined strokes in the vignetting of the hair as well as a controlled few sharp edges in the eyes.

i'm with david on the warmth of the wood. perhaps a maple or grey elm might work well?

awesome painting. very creative.