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All my painting is done with oil and/or alkyd, which is a resin based paint that dries more quickly than oil paint
but handles very much like oil and can be intermixed with oil paint. I thin my paints with mineral spirits and use
oil and alkyd medium for glazing (painting a transparent layer of color over another).
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Now I may begin painting the picture in one of two ways. It used to be that I would paint everything in crudely,
just to establish the basic forms and colors, and then paint over everything again (“overpaint”, in artist lingo),
adding detail as I did so. I would always paint the initial layer, called the underpainting, in color. Since I don’t
always do a color sketch prior to starting the painting, this color underpainting would afford me the chance to
evaluate and change parts of a painting’s color scheme. But lately, I go ahead and finish an entire section of
a painting in one session. For example, if a painting has a lot of grass in it, I’ll paint all the grass to completion
in as few sessions as possible, preferably in just one session. Each figure or object will be completely painted in
a session, and so it goes, until the painting is completed. The entire time, I am referring to my photos to guide
me as I paint. The time it takes to complete one of my elaborate combat paintings is between five and ten weeks.
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When the painting is dry, I may glaze the entire surface with transparent color if I want, for example, to give the
painting a more “yellow” or “blue” cast overall. Or, I may selectively glaze certain objects in the painting in order
to make subtle adjustments to their color. But, I do not regard this process as a “magic brush” sort of panacea that
makes weak color better - the thing has got to be done right the first time, and then you can tweak things in this
manner afterwards. I always finish a piece by applying three or more good coats of spray varnish on a painting to
protect it and bring the depth and vibrancy of the color out again, as oil paint has a tendency to dull as it cures.
Oil doesn’t dry as water based paints do.
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