Copper #8 Grisaille

Getting better - will work on this until I'm satisfied then I'll start the color - my whole objective with this entire enterprise! By the way, I use 1500 grit sand paper cloth, wet, to sand down ridges of paint in-between each days work if there are any. I don't use any medium at this stage.

Copper #7 Grisaille

Here's the very beginning - a real mess! Looks kind of blue green, but it's totally neutral gray paints!

Copper #6 drawing

I use home made pastel transfer paper using a sienna soft pastel/alcohol on tracing paper to transfer my drawing to the copper. Then I'll start the grisaille.

Copper Prep #5

Here's my 12" x 12" 18 gauge copper panel smooth and dry ready to the drawing. You can see how thin the paint is - that beautiful pink copper color shows through in place, though it won't show in the finished piece.

Copper Prep #4

Sure wish there was a way to put more than one photo is a post, then I could write the whole thing together instead of piece meal - last step on top of first ones! Anyway...

Here, I'm using a brush to put on flake white - actually I used some Cremitz white here - that's been thinned with mineral spirits or turps. I started with the brush to get the stuff on there, then I smoothed it out with my thumb.

Copper Prep #3

After polishing with the Never Dull and cleaning several times with the alcohol, I then use ca.400 grit wet/dry sand paper to take off the red curprous oxide (CU2O) formed by reaction between surface of copper and oxygen in the air. You can see the fine powder that's on the sand paper and the difference between the cleaned side/dirty side.

This abrading, done in small circles with dry sand paper and quite abit of pressure, is what allow the paint to bond with the copper. I think an ion is exchanged between oil paint and the metal, but don't know the science exactly - only that it works!

Then I clean off any red dust that is left behind, again with the alcohol. Now it's ready to accept the ground of thinned flake white.

Copper Prep #2 Supplies

• Never Dull - a metal polishing batting that works well.
• Denatured Alchohol
• 400 grit wet/dry sand paper
• flake white oil paint thinned with a bit of mineral spirits

Copper Preparation #1 Dirty copper

I love painting on copper! But as with most painting supports - linen, panel, canvas or wall, there is much work that must be done before I can even think about painting on it.

Here is a 12 x 12  18 gauge copper panel. Paint will not adhere to the surface as it is and MUST be thoroughly cleaned and abraded .

Blue

Blue oil on linen panel  13 x 15

My intention here is to study the color blue. However instead of painting blue spheres like I did for 5 YR, I decided to try this blue pitcher that's pretty close to 6.5PB and Nasteriums from last summer's window box...for a touch of humor I added a small iron bird wondering about that reflection that leads outside! I started this one with local color on linen panel and have started another using a neutral grisaille but on copper. I'll post the way I prep the copper in the next post.

Battiporta - Italian Doorknocker

Here's another one - Battiporta or Italian Doorknocker 9 x 8 oil on panel

New Work 2011

My, how time gets away from me!  I have been working, though you wouldn't know it from the dates on this blog!

Here's a commission of a Black Capped Chickadee - oil on panel 6 x 8