Thursday, February 17, 2011

Oiling Out

Reifel Reserve
8 x 10
oil on canvas board
I've been spending quite a bit of time birding, photographing and cataloging images lately but am also doing some maintenance on some recent paintings.  This involves checking the surfaces for dull areas and bringing back the luster with a little walnut oil.  It is as far as I'm concerned the only way to even out the surface properly and the bonus is that it shows up the brush strokes of paint instead of varnish brush strokes which can be distracting.  The oil when dry creates a tough protective surface but one has to watch for drips and it may require more than one oiling out to get a good finish.  
The painting above is of a Green-winged Teal that I spotted at the Reifel bird Reserve.  I loved the reflections and the limited palette needed to paint this.

4 comments:

martinealison said...

Effectivement vos reflets dans l'eau sont très beau et l'ensemble de cette peinture très reposante.
Bises

Diana Marshall said...

How lucky you are to have all this natural beauty on your doorstep. Your bird paintings are beautiful, isn't nature wonderful.

Marie Theron said...

A Splendid painting, with a nice Old Master-like colour scheme of brown hues!

Unknown said...

Thank you Martine, Diana and Marie. I am so lucky to be living part time right across from a nature reserve on a huge river delta on the west coast of Canada and the rest of the time 400 kilometers inland in Canada's only desert. Both so different and providing so much resource for painting.