Infox' Oil and Silverleaf Painting WIP

Hiya folks! 

This little piece was created to try out a palette and contour patterned style that I was thinking of using for a larger painting - 'Reflective Infoxication'.

'Infox' is a cropped version of 'Reflective Infoxication' image at its exact same proportions. 

Completed 'Infox' on the easel

After stretching a small 5.2" x 3.9" texturally gessoed (look carefully and you should be able to see the underlying gesso brush strokes) canvas on to a piece of plywood with masking tape, the ground was toned by rubbing a thin layer of raw umber acrylic + slow drying medium, and then a quick underdrawing done in raw umber oil paint.

It was then gilded with the silver metal leaf design. This gilding process takes about 2 days overall. A protective layer of Liquin + touch of Stand Oil + Turpentine (my own recipe) was then applied over the gilded silverleaf and left to dry properly for a few days before proceeding with the underpainting in raw umber oil..

Beginning to Paint!

With a tonally accurate underpainting done, I could proceed with the first layer of paint.

Palette used:

Flake White Hue, Yellow Ocher, Cad Yellow, Cad Red, Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine, Sap Green, Phthalo Blue & Raw Umber.

The initial stages were quickly painted in with larger size 8 synthetic filberts, and later size 4 and smaller rounds.. I used a medium of Linseed + Liquin + Turpentine.

The left image shows the first layer of paint almost complete. The second layer has been started in the right image (the eye).

I was still deciding how I would be painting the turquoise blanket in the background, rubbing back the paint in some stages to try different ways to create an effect I would be happy with..

Once the second layer was complete (left) I began to add the contour crosshatching I had planned, starting with the face (right image)

Completed 'Infox' on the easel with palette..

Here is 'Infox' complete and properly scanned. Close up, one can clearly see the contour line pattern, painted on the skin and the slight lined texture of the gesso canvas surface.

'Infox' ' Oil and Silver Metal Leaf on Unstretched Canvas / Size: 5.2 x 3.9 Inches.
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Archival Giclee Prints Available at : 'Infox' Archival Giclee Print

Thank you for dropping by guys!,..

Please don't hesitate to leave a comment if you have any questions or tips/tricks you would like to share!.. I'd love to hear from you!