Happy New Year from me wishing all the most pleasant and gracious things. ..
This is a self portrait developed using old masters techniques and materials, it is built with subtle and very transparent glazes that i usually leave to dry for six months before applying the next layer. Here the pigments i use are genuine vermillion, ultramarine, ivory black, yellow ochre, mars black. These pigments are very gentle and the painting shifts if applied too vigorously so i give them lots of space. I also use a glaze i made myself using stand oil and damar varnish, which I also made from scratch melting damar crystals in turps for several weeks. Each glazed layer has a sheen that reflects light and the final effect will be more luminous as a result. .
