The Making of a Very Large Painting

There is something about Very Large Paintings that gets my heart racing. So I decided to surpass my previous efforts and go super-sized with a 150x240cm diptych.

Painting on this scale is a completely different experience - the physicality of he expressive mark making is quite demanding but the huge expanse of canvas is incredibly liberating. Here, I am making a start.....

Below are some of the stages the painting went through (some of them rather ugly!). It may seem like a waste of time and effort painting in so many layers when they will ultimately get covered up but each and every layer plays its part in the finished painting. And.... it's fun!

These luscious details, the depth, texture and colour complexity, would not exist without this layering process. The composition evolves and refines until.... I feel there is no more to be done.
I'm really excited to be showing this painting at Contemporary Art Fairs SURREY at Sandown Park Racecourse 15-17th March!