More work on the underpainting today and yesterday. I'm learning more on how to work on larger paintings, still something of a rarity for me. I keep wanting to add details which are too fine to be relevant at this scale, and I'm finding it tricky to copy when the screen is behind the painting, making it impossible to see the source image and the painting at the same time (I need to shuffle left and peer around the edge!). This is probably a classic problem for painters. I wonder if this causes visual memory to improve? Or whether the old masters referred more to sketches and studies while painting? Or looked side on at their model? I've managed adequately here, partly because it's not a complex self-portrait and was underdrawn accurately.
Now some exhibition notes. Yesterday I attended the preview for the Bickerton Exhibition in Bickerton Village Hall. I have four paintings on show of the record 381 on display for the next week. If you live in Cheshire and want a trip to the prettiest bit of countryside around it's £1.50 to get in.
Tonight The Oneric Image exhibition opens in Weston-Super-Mare. I'm quite excited by this, a rare specialist surrealism exhibition held by the Lloyd Gill Gallery. The exhibition continues until the 27th of August and features five recent paintings, most of which haven't been exhibited before.
