Saturday, August 30, 2008

How To Make A Monster (Again!)

Here's another example of the three main steps in creating a glaze oil painting. Luckily I "documented" these steps while creating these paintings, so that I can actually show the process instead of describing it. A picture is worth a thousand werewolves. I mean words. The subject this time is the iconic, craggy features of Glenn Strange as the Frankenstein Monster, specifically from ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.

The sketch and simple tones are the most important steps. This is the time to make corrections regarding proportions in particular. It's a lot easier to fix drawing errors during these early stages than it is to fix later.


Next is the application of thicker paint - just Burnt Umber and Titanium White - to create a tone painting. Since it will be glazed, we'll keep the middle and dark tones about two shades lighter than normal. Corrections can still be made at this point, but you'll wish you had done them earlier!


Once this monochromatic stage is completely dry, the glazing stage can begin. Using "transparent" colors such as Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson and Indian Yellow with a glazing medium, the color is layered on the existing tones. The result is quite striking, and very different from a traditional oil painting.



If you're wondering why my signature is so big...it is because the painting was so small! The actual canvas was only 5 x 7 inches, and was sold during my Gallery Show in October 2006.

1 comment:

Dr Spyclops said...

Beautiful work, Frank. Those facial highlights really make the piece.