On The Easel

This painting is using two of my favorite models, Charlie Weber and Jay Lewis. They are relaxing around a warm fire after a hearty meal while out trapping in the Yellowstone basin. After preparing my canvas with a couple of coats of gesso, I will usually paint a thin layer of tinted gesso or a thin tint of acrylic to get rid of the white glare. In this case I added a little yellow ochre to my final gesso to give it a warm glow with which to start. I prefer to sketch with a brush using raw umber acrylic as my medium and that way if I make errors which I always do, I can just wipe it out with water or go over it with a little gesso and I have a clean surface again. I had to resketch the reclining figure and that is why the background is darker in that area.

Now the painting is being done in oil paint. I can paint oil over my acrylic sketch. I start with the faces and get them roughed in and then work my way down the canvas doing the painting in about 75% detail. I always go back and refine or add clothing details later.

I am feeling fairly confident at this point that the painting is going to work. Sometimes you get to this point or maybe a little earlier, you find it is not what you have in your mind's eye and you have to set it aside or rethink your direction. At this point I am only worried about making the fire and foreground look right for the painting. The guns, clothing and shadows will be worked out by trial and error.

The painting is basically finished except for the title, signature and some small details. I will sit it aside for a day and then look at it again with a fresh eye and make some minor changes. When I am confident it is finished it will get my signature and the process is complete.