Today I began glazing The Apocalypse of Finance, having been in the mood because of working on a smaller version yesterday in Art Support. I've decided to take my time and have at least one break of a few days during working on this layer. This is excusable when glazing but hard to justify when underpainting, because a good underpainting has edges that are smooth and blended so that glazes that adjoin areas can easily fade from one colour to another as smooth as glass even when one area is dry. Blending dry or semi-dry opaque paint is not possible and so underpaintings must ideally be completed quickly while the paint is wet.
I've painted the red sky today and the distant buildings. I used my trusty Prolene Plus 007 size 3/0 to draw some ultra-fine rays from the explosion of light in the sky. I've used that type of brush on just about every painting I've ever painted and it remains my standard choice for details, even when underpainting. A Winsor and Newton Series 7 000 is perhaps finer and better, but wears out more quickly and costs about ten times more. I reserve one of those for essential emergencies only.
The lines were too fine and anticrepuscular, so I smoothed them towards procrepuscular glory!
