Bitterness, 10" x 8", Acrylic on Canvas Board, 2009

This is another transformation, once again with no colour reference but just a love for painting the human face and a bit of experience from memory.

This was an Asian man I sketched on the the tube in February last year. He just had those perfect features that tell stories and while transforming him, I just enhanced them a bit to suggest the title of this painting. This piece was done in Acrylic with a slow dry medium, almost giving it the qualities of an oil. I love acrylic because it is so versatile- it can do almost all the effects that other mediums do.

I have also put up a photo of my set up so that you can see how I go about these transformations.

This one went thus:

1.Direct transfer of the sketch to the canvas board, that had been primed with a warm grey colour.

2. With the slow dry medium, I went about this one with very light glaze sketch strokes till I had enough information on the canvas.

3. With the simple formula of light washes to darker washes I built up the layers making sure I kept all the strokes free and loose. This method is often used in watercolour paintings.

4. Then when I got to the lighter parts that had the most light, I introduced some impasto gel medium into the paint mixtures to help with the heavy build of such areas.

5. The background was very important in this piece because I wanted it to have a sort of direct effect to the past events in his life that have sparked bitterness in this his heart.

6. Before completing I turned the piece upside down and just painted the abstract qualities of this piece -tying the strokes together to help the overall design.

7. Then I flipped it over and signed it before further ruins.