This painting is not a commercial piece, but a personal depiction of a close family member, Joseph Ridge, whom I know as Uncle Joe. I wanted to express in this painting a person content with himself, reminiscing on a fruitful life spanning 92 years — from the tumultuous years of fighting in the second World War to the serenity of warm days in the South African sun. Memories are a precious commodity, and so is family, which is why I wanted to immortalise Mr Ridge in the medium I know best – oil paint.
In his latter years, Mr Ridge has become synonymous with his chair, so it was clear the composition of this painting had to incorporate this. I would normally start with preparatory sketches, but in this case I couldn’t expect the model to sit still for long periods, so I started by taking numerous photos from different angles.
I took his jumper back to the studio with me — I Prefer to paint clothing from real life, as this allows me to look intensely into the fabric and create detail that is not possible with a two-dimensional photo.
I am an unusual painter in that I like to work with a tiny brush — a ProArte Miniature painting brush — for almost the entire painting. Initially, I use a larger brush to fill in areas of flat colour, which is made translucent by being mixed with refined linseed oil. I do this so I can still see the pencil underneath, while also creating a base colour on which to work. As the pencil is only a guide, it will soon be lost as I build up layers of different colour and mould the contours of the face.
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Uncle Joe; oil on canvas board, 77.5cm x 67cm. |
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| Detail of Uncle Joe's jumper - every stitch individually painted |
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| Detail of Uncle Joe |
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| The 125th New English Art Club Exhibition, The Mall Galleries, London. |
Using the print out from my computer as a guide I then draw the image on to the canvas. I tend to use a 0.5 clutch pencil with a cushion point and 2B lead to do this. To get a very fine point to the lead I sharpen it continuously with an Nt-cutter.
I now start to work on my second larger mannequin using the same technique as I used on the previous one. I use similar tonal values even in the details on the concrete building. Moving down to work on the London Bus I use: Winsor Red, Magenta and Permanent Rose to create its distinctive colour.
Further down the painting the next two larger pedestrians are painted normally - once they have dried I apply tints of Mauve Blue Shade mixed with mars black and hints of Cadmium Red Deep over them to form the second mannequins jacket.
Moving across to the next bus I again start by outlining the fine details with Mars Black. As this bus is closer to the viewer than the previous ones there are far more features visible in the windows - these are created by adding Winsor Blue (GreenShade) with Davy’s Grey and Raw Amber Light.
Once the buildings and the bus are finally finished and dry - you can begin painting the final Mannequin over them with translucent Titanium White a touch of Davy’s Grey and Yellow Ochre Light (All diluted with Refined Linseed)
The final two figures in the bottom corner are painted normally - once they have dried I then apply a light translucent blue using; Indigo, French Ultramarine and Mars Black over them to form the Mannequins dress - the small flower decorations are added at the end once everything has dried.
The final stage is to work over areas that need slight adjustments. I notice these far better if I put the painting to one side for a couple of days and then look at it through fresh eyes.
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| Showing the actual size of Reflection 4 |
Materials
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 4
This is a continuation of Iain’s previous Blog showcasing two short YouTube video’s of how he created his large oil painting - 'Self-Portrait As Commuter'.
I originally wrote this article for the Artist Magazine back in Feb 2018. This is the original unabridged version which hasn’t been professionally edited - I’ve added tips and extra information to the stages sections and I’ve also included additional unpublished photos and a time-lapse video.
Self-Portrait As Commuter, oil on canvas, 122.5cm x 92cm
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| Iain busy working on his painting ´Self-Portrait as Commuter` |
A few years ago before this horrible Covid-19 pandemic changed everything!... I was experiencing yet another tedious commute into a damp over cast London. Like many of my fellow passengers my mind was far away totally consumed in my own private thoughts. I was trying unsuccessfully to come up with a concept for my next art project. Looking out of the train window wishing desperately to get some inspiration - I inexplicably took a photo of myself!
Those brief seconds that it took to press the button on the camera would unknowingly capture an image that would inspire me to create a painting - that would take over three years to complete.Using miniature techniques on a large-scale canvas, I decided to depict every pore in the skin and every stitch in the jacket in oil paint.
A big problem I had in the beginning was the quality of the digital photo – it was blurred. I tried to sharpen it in Photoshop, but unfortunately that wasn’t successful. To create the detail that I wished to portray I was forced to take numerous very close up photos of my face. I also frequently resorted back to basics by observing myself in the mirror.
My initial idea was to show the intricate process of creating this painting as an installation art concept. Each stage of the painting process was photographed and then digitally printed onto canvases, which are the exact size and dimension of the original painting.
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| Self-Portrait As Commuter Installation Concept - Exhibiting In A Virtual Gallery |
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| Self-Portrait As Commuter Installation Concept - Exhibiting In A Virtual Gallery |
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| Self-Portrait As Commuter Installation Concept - Exhibiting In A Virtual Gallery |
The whole idea of the exhibition is to show the actual process of creating the art was in fact the most important aspect. It also allowed the viewer to interact with each stage of the painting as it evolved through out the years.
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| Iain showing his Stage by Stage digital prints along side his original oil painting |
This painting and the over all concept that it represents is very special to me - not because I spent such a long time creating it, but because it was the last project I finished that my dad saw before his untimely passing from MND.
Before I started the drawing on my pre primed bought canvas. I decided to size the back of the canvas myself with a dry rabbit skin glue mixed with heated water. On the front of the canvas I also added numerous extra coats of Daler-Rowney Gesso primer, which I applied very thickly – allowing it to dry I then arduously sanded it down until it was perfectly smooth. I now had a canvas that I was ready to work on. As the image was very large I decided to draw it on the canvas in sections. Using print outs from my computer as a guide. I used a 0.5 clutch pencil with a cushion point and 2B lead to do this.
Tip 1
To get a very fine point on my clutch pencil I sharpen it regularly with an Nt-cutter.
With this particular drawing I tried to make it very detailed. Which meant adding the position of blemishes and even the pores in the skin. However my main priority at this early stage was to make sure that all the proportions where correct.
Tip 2
I find it very helpful while drawing to look at the image in front of a mirror - The mirror gives you a different perspective that allows you to see if there are any mistakes.
Stage 2
Once I’m happy with my drawing, I started painting in large areas with a mixture of Mars Black and Ivory Black, I thinned the paint down to a smooth consistency with refine Linseed oil. Once the black has dried I then began painting details of the hair with different shades of brown that have been mixed with a small amount of black. I made them all slightly translucent by also adding a small amount of refined linseed oil. The reason for making them translucent was for them to merge into the black background and not to be too prominent.
Tip 3
Don’t overload your brushes with too much paint.
Stage 3
In stage three I started painting the stitches in the shirt using Titanium white mixed with a tiny amount of Mars black to add shading, with the blue stitches of the shirt I added a small amount of Winsor Blue Red Shade with Titanium white, Manganese Blue Hue and a very small amount of Indigo. All mixed with a tiny amount of Mars black again for shading. At this early stage I’m not too worried about the tones in the painting as I still have numerous other layers to add later. My main concern is to make sure the stitches are individually correct.
Tip 4
When painting clothes I always prefer to work with the garments in front of me - so I can look very closely and see every tiny thread. These observations allowed me to create extremely fine detail on the canvas, which was not visible on the original photo.
During this stage I finished most of the jacket - painting every minute stitch. To achieve the colour I used Winsor Blue Green shade, Winsor Blue Red Shade, Indigo and Mars black, mixed with Ultramarine Violet. I will still have to add translucent tones later.
To create the fine detail I used my 5/0 Pro Arte Miniature Painting Brush. Over such a large area it took months to finish. I also added more detail to the shirt by painting in the small threads and fluff - these are a bit bright in the beginning and will have to be toned down once they have dried.
While waiting for the jacket and shirt to dry I started to paint the first layers of the eye. I began by painting the pupil and the out line shape of the eye with Mars and Ivory black mixed together. While the paint is still wet I add Titanium white mixed with Permanent Mauve, Mauve Blue Shade and Yellow Ochre with a little bit more black to create the base colour of the white of the eye. Using Indigo mixed with titanium white and Manganese Blue Hue I then out lined the iris – once the paint is dry, I can then add the different shades of colour to the iris in minute detail, this involves numerous colours. The eye took a long time to create, as I had to be very patient and stare into the mirror for days on end. Building up layers of translucent colours.
To create the veins in the eye I use Winsor Red, Permanent Rose and Purple Madder, for the high lights I used Titanium white. Once the eye is again dry I then added further layers of tones and hues to finally bring life into it.
In stage five I started painting the different tones into the skin. I found my detailed drawing now became essential to get every pore correct. The skin took ages to perfect as it requires endless layers of translucent colours being applied on top of each other. You have to wait before the last layer has dried before you can apply a second - using a minute brush this took ages. The colours I used for the skin was very diverse - I nearly used my entire spectrum, as you need different hues of blueish greens for the veins near the eye, and subtle blends of reds, orange, browns, black and purples, mixed together with different shades of yellow.
Once I had finished the forehead. I started on the sky which was basically mainly white with small remnants of light grey, I used Titanium white and Davy’s Grey. Once the sky had dried I then painted the individual hairs over the face using all my different shades of brown. I now completed large areas of the face including the nose and also the top of the trees in the background.
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| Finished Painting 'Self-Portrait As Commuter' |
In this final stage I started working on the mouth before finishing the reflection in the window and the railway tracks. To create the mouth I blended Mars black with Quinacridone Magenta and Winsor red for the dark areas between the lips. I then mixed yellow hue with permanent Rose for the top of the lips. For the bottom lip I also used permanent Rose and yellow hue as well as a tiny amount of Ultramarine Violet and Titanium White. Once this has dried I added more subtle tones of very translucent purples and blues, before finally finishing with white high lights.
I then began to paint the rest of the trees and reflection in the window. While waiting for areas to dry I would move on to another section - that’s why I finished the railway tracks before the trees where completed. Once all the trees where finished and dry - I then added very light grey translucent tones over the reflection. While this grey was still wet I used a clean cloth to remove any excess paint - allowing the under colour to show through. I also added small amounts of translucent Winsor Red and Permanent Rose. Finally I added tones and hues through out the painting to unify everything.
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| Iain Gardiner showing the size of ´Self-Portrait As Commuter` |
