Every painting starts long before the first stroke. It begins with a thumbnail sketch, a colour note scribbled on the back of a receipt, and a lot of looking.
The underpainting
I tone the canvas with a thin wash of burnt sienna. A warm ground makes the cooler colours sing and stops me being afraid of a white surface.
Then I block in the big shapes: lights, darks and the major colour families. Detail comes much later. At this stage the painting should look good from across the room.
Paint what you see, not what you know is there.
Studio note
Glazing and light
Most of the glow in my portraits comes from glazing: thin, transparent layers of colour laid over a dry underlayer. It takes patience. Each layer needs days to dry, but no other method gives the same depth.
Finally comes varnish, and the hardest decision of all: when to stop.
