How Do I Create A Painting: Canvas Preparation Until The Varnish (6 Pics)

This is how I create a painting. 

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I take the preparation of canvas quite seriously because if it is not done properly the finished painting might get affected very badly. Firstly I stretch my canvas on my panel, and rub it with sandpaper to get rid of the bobbles and roughness. Then I treat it with 2 layers of primer and gesso each. Then what I do is, I do one coating of oil painting which will help me during the process of painting, it reduces the friction immensely.

Before I start with a painting, what I do is I create a grid both on my canvas and on the reference photo. I sell my paintings so I have to be very careful with the shape of my subjects so I take the help of a grid. With the use of the grid, I create the outline of my main and other subjects in this step.

This is where I create a color scheme. Color scheme helps me to bring whatever light, effect, and mood I intend to bring to my canvas. After I apply the color scheme, the layout of colors works as a foundation. It guides me to select values and colors. The demarcation of the presence and absence of light zones and the caste shadows becomes quite obvious after the color scheme.

This is step is a honeymoon step for me. It is icing on the cake because after the application of the highlight zone and the highlight itself the painting comes to life. It is so good to see how the painting would come to life. I am so fond of this technique scumbling with which I create sharp highlights. They help my painting get the soul that it needs. And none of my paintings are short of the glazing technique. I use glazing on all the cloth areas and the shadow parts. This technique more depth to the painting.

Last but not least. I allow my painting to dry, not touch dry, I mean super dry. Once it is completely dry what I do is varnish my painting. Varnishing an oil painting is very important. During the process of drying a painting, what happens is that the paint gets absorbed by the canvas or somehow major values on the painting get lost in the process. While varnishing a painting all the lost values come to life.

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