Faded man nr1


• 2010
• Oil on canvas
• 60 cm. x 90 cm. (23.62 in. x 35.43 in.)
• Available

Faded man nr1 | Oil on canvas
Canvascollectie 2010 submission

I am an autodidact painter. Like with alomost everything, I like to find out stuff myself - don't know where I got that though.
Lately there has been this feeling of unhappiness about my painting. I still loved the paintings I made, but I just couldn't see myself or my technique progressing like it did in the first years. I knew this meant that it was high time to start experimenting.

People who have seen my work in real life know that I'm not very fond of thick layers of paint or coarse brushstrokes. They result in way too much light reflection for my type of work.
For a while I've been wondering if I could get it even thinner and less opaque than it already was. It took a while to find out the exact composition of my painting medium (a hint: it contains varnish, turpentine, linseed oil and a secret ingredient..) only to notice that that wasn't the only key to success.
Even the thickness and colour of the gesso underpaiting is imortant. Hell, even the charcoal sketch could be seen through the end result, so even that had to be fixed by using beige pastel instead.

All in all it's become quite a different approach to oil paint. I adjusted the mixture of the medium and got to an entriely different result. It had worn me out completely, but it was well worth it.

Does this mean the 'old' style is gone and forgotten? Not at all!!
I just need to master as many techniques as possible to make sure that I can express my vision in the best possible way.

Days like these is what I paint for.