Pelican Pete

Oil

24 x 18

Pelican Pete is my first-class exercise done in oil with the Milan Art Institute.

This is an old master’s style of painting dating back to the Baroque period.

The MAI refers to it as subtractive painting. Done in three layers.

The first layer is dark and covers the entire canvas. While the paint is still wet, I do the drawing by lifting or erasing the paint. Creating a variety of values and textures.

The second layer is done using transparent oils. Who knew that some oils are transparent?

The third layer is finished using opaque oils.

And this is how Pelican Pete came to be.

A fun process, the hardest part was waiting for the paint to thoroughly dry before moving on to the next layer.

Keeping the brushes wet,

Teresa