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July 19, 2005
Perhaps I should explain
Wet on wet: not, as it may at first appear, some required sexual technique, but a matter of painting a whole picture in one go, applying fresh wet paint onto and beside existing wet paint. You need big brushes and a bold attitude. Also called wet in wet, or sometimes wet into wet.
“The technique tends to inhibit precise outlines and to limit the painter’s capacity for detail, so paintings carried out entirely in this manner tend to be broad in their handling.”
Jonathan Stephenson, The Materials and Techniques of Painting, Thames and Hudson. 1989.
However it is the most deliciously direct way of using good oil paint. It is not a laboured, considered, let's wait for it to dry and apply a series of carefully calculated glazes over a series of subtle tones, sort of painting. It’s an all right, okay, here we go, non-stop, event, that once started cannot be stopped until all is done.
As I explained, the hard work is in the preparation, becoming totally familiar with the subject before one glorious day amongst the sticky stuff. Make sure you have enough paint out and there is some sun-thickened linseed oil around to make things generally more slippery and soft, which sounds good in many ways - yours and mine.
Posted by john at July 19, 2005 08:38 AM
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