Beginning work on a new painting commission - Highland Cow in bright rainbow colours

Each Highland Cow portrait is a one-of-a-kind, unique oil painting. This little video shows the beginning stage of a new painting, which has been commissioned recently. Im going to film the whole process on this one and give the client the video along with the piece.

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Re-working an older piece

This week I have been gathering my available paintings together and having a look at them with fresh eyes as I prepare for two exhibitions coming up in the Spring. With oil painting there is always the opportunity to return to an unvarnished piece and make some ‘tweaks’ at a later date. This week I decided to take 4 of my pieces to one side and give them a little facelift, adding a touch more vibrancy and contrast. This is possible by gently cleaning the surface and ‘oiling out’ the painting to provide a uniformly glossy surface to work smoothly onto. I then apply glazes of fresh colour, which can be removed , or partially removed to give the desired effect if necessary. I find this process super enjoyable and quite exciting.

Two of my bird paintings acquired a second set of wings along with the makeover!

Working on a pait of blackbirds

Working on a pait of blackbirds

Adding in a little friend for my lone Starling…

Adding in a little friend for my lone Starling…

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