OILS
Process is very important to me: in recent years I have been concerned with achieving a balance between subtlety of composition and intensity of mood.
My interest in lighting comes from the cinema as well as life. Light can be a subject of a painting and influences whether the painting explores bold contrasts of value and saturation or more subtle, nuanced depiction of the subject. I am growing increasingly aware of the characteristic quality of light in a specific location - my paintings from London depict a dimmer, grayer light, paintings from Boston are more harshly lit.
I am intrigued by experiments with scale ranging from life-sized oil portraits to tiny bird studies.
On the practical side, when painting with oil paint, I like to work on Belgian linen canvas and apply the paint with both hog's hair brush and palette knife.
Content:
© 2003
Robin Paine
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© 2003
Nimworks Design
WATERCOLORS
I have found that watercolor is an extremely unpredictable medium that cannot be entirely taught nor entirely mastered. I therefore try to start out with a humble and innocent approach. I've noticed that if I have a preconceived idea of what I want the finished painting to look like the result is invariably a failure.
I like to use good quality equipment - a box of paints (which I prefer in pans.) Italian watercolor paper and most importantly, decent sable brushes. As I usually paint from observation, I map out the drawing in HB pencil and then start applying the paint with a mixture of bravery and caution. First laying down broad simple washes, I gradually add more sharply rendered detail as the washes dry. A watercolor is easily ruined by over-working and I've noticed that a spontaneous approach balanced by a certain discipline yields the best results.