This last week has been all about finishing. I had 6 paintings to seal and varnish and get off to the framer, and 9 paintings to collect from said framer. Now I am faced with the decision about how to finish the frames. Paint, woodstain, varnish, beeswax? Those sorts of decisions. Oh, style guru where are you?

I have also this week finished and put out into the world my Prompt Sheet. 50+ prompts to help people decide on what their next markmaking step might be in their painting. Or what technique they could apply to their work to enrich the surface. It’s a freebie and I believe it now hangs daintily on studio walls all over the world and is referred to by artists looking for their next step.

I love the idea of us all facing the same decisions as we inch our work closer to its’ completion. We start, we push paint around and we finish. The beginning and end of that process is what I will deal with here. If you want to know about ‘The pushing paint around’ bit, please refer to the Prompt Sheet!

I paint on canvas. However, I don’t paint on canvas stretched over stretchers as I don’t like the ‘bouncy’ surface. I dig and scrape into the paint and like to be a little rough with it so I prefer a firm surface. I stretch raw canvas over cradled wooden panels that I have had made up in various sizes and reuse the same panels with every series.

So how do I begin? I apply 3 coats of gesso generously. Then I get some house paint which I have snaffled at a greatly reduced price from the reject section of the local paint suppliers. These are tins of paint that I assume get dumped on a trolley in the back of the shop because someone had a lapse of concentration while mixing a certain colour for a customer. I go for the best quality and the closest to white that I can find.

When I use this paint, I usually add a little squeeze of colour from my artists paint just so that it doesn’t blend too much into the white gesso already on the canvas. I mix up two colours one dark and one light. The dark paint has been dark grey house paint leftover from when we painted our house. I splash it on, applying it with squeegees and large brushes. The idea is not to be skimpy with the paint as I want it to partly obscure the weave of the canvas. At this point it really doesn’t matter what colour I use, and I could just use one colour to be honest, as the purpose of this layer is to build paint onto the canvas. I like to use a dark and light because it’s more interesting to apply. However, all of it gets covered when I start painting.

Then I make the painting.

When the painting is finished the surface is lumpy and bumpy, it may have fabric or paper collaged onto it. I use pastel, oil sticks, pencil, and I will have scratched and dug, and scored the surface with a screwdriver or scratchy tool which I have no idea the name of. (It’s a great tool though. I found it among my partners tools, which are always scattered around the garage usually just left where he used them last. Order is not his middle name. This tool has little teeth which make great scratchy marks on a painted surface. I commandeered it and have since almost clogged its’ little teeth up with paint as I’ve rigorously scratched back into both wet and dry paint. There is no way I could possibly take the tool to him now and enquire as to its’ name or original purpose. The tool and I have a clandestine relationship, ignorant of its’ identity, but lovingly acquainted with its’ newfound purpose.)

Anyway, where was I? Yes, talking about the surface of my finished painting. There may be parts that are a little insecure. Where paint has dried on pastel, but with a gentle scrape or rub will come off to reveal the pastel underneath. To secure these areas, I usually paint them as I go with a coating of Gel Medium so they sit under a film of clear acrylic. Pencil marks get the same treatment. By the time the painting is finished there are parts that have had many layers of either paint or medium, but there are also parts which have not had quite as much attention. So, I cover the whole painting with a good coating of Gloss Medium. Now the whole painting is underneath a coat of clear acrylic.

At this point there are options as to how to finish the surface. If you like a high gloss finish a final coat of self-levelling gel would probably be the answer. However, I’ve heard a few nightmarish stories about that stuff so I’ve stayed well clear of it. Besides, I like to run my hand over the surface of the painting and feel the lumps and bumps that tell of the history of its’ beginnings.

Once it has its’ isolation coat of gloss medium applied, some people choose to rub and buff the surface with beeswax to take away the gloss and achieve a nice sheen. I want this same sheen, but instead of using beeswax I use a Waterbased Varnish that has UVLS properties to protect it from the effects of sunlight. I apply 3 coats. When all this is done, it feels as soft as the proverbial babies bot, has a lovely satin sheen and every mark, patch of colour, collage et al just looks like it was always meant to be. Lovely.

I pop off the staples and remove the painting from the cradled panel and get it down to my framer. He makes a stretcher and stretches the painting onto it. He also makes a floating frame to nestle that stretched canvas into. A few screws in the back and his work is done.

The painting comes back to me to ‘finish’ the frame. Which is where we started this blog. Do I varnish, stain, paint or buff the wood? Each painting will have its’ own solution depending on the colours used. I’m in for much standing and staring, chin rubbing, asking my partner, ignoring his advice, sending photos to my sisters, waiting for their opinions and then coming to a final decision. Wish me luck!

If you would like to see more of my process come and join my facebook group The Upbeat Artists. I have a short video demonstrating applying the isolation coat and varnish, and you will find other tutorials in there which might be of interest and go hand in hand with the 50+ Markmaking & Painting Prompt Sheet.

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