Last years, most painted...

At the end of a year, I like to look back and review the paintings I've completed over the past 12 months. One thing I like to do just for fun, is reflect on what my favorite 'muse' was? In other words, what object did I find myself painting most? I even broaden this question to see which flowers I painted most that year?

So, my 2009 most treasured object was...

So for me this vase proved to be my most treasured possession. It was purchased in the summer, from a 'budget-antique type' shop, while I was vacationing back in Britain. I just fell in love with the simple organic curves of it's form and the wonderful crisp leaf and stem designs on it's sides.

Here are just a couple of example paintings I completed using the vase -

And the 2009 most painted flower was....

It actually turned out to be a close run competition with a number of flowers all coming pretty close, but in the end 'the Lilly' squeaked across the finishing line first. Which if I'm honest, is a surprise, because I can struggle a little with them and tend to think I prefer painting Irises or tulips, (which it should be noted have been previous award winners). Just goes to show you never can tell.

..and here are just a few examples of this years Lilies....

Painting on wood panel

The preparing of a wood surface to paint on.

For me this task can be a bit of a chore, but it is a very important stage to get right, and one I like to do myself; from the selection of the wood, all the way through to creating the painting surface (known as the ground). I tend to paint on Maple or Oak, both are hardwoods and have fine grains with few knots, thus good surfaces to work on.

Sometimes I'm asked why paint on wood rather than canvas, for me the answer is simple. I do paint on both, but much of my work is on wood. Wood provides a nice hard surface unlike canvas which gives a bounce when painted on, this effects how you can paint on the surface. You can see this with crisper edges and lines in my paintings on wood, and softer edges on canvas.

An additional point is that the texture of the two surfaces can also be very different. Canvas has a very regular texture on it from the cloths weave; with wood however a number of coats of an Acrylic based paint (gesso) are need to seal the wood, these can be brushed on to create a textured irregular effect, that I find to be a more pleasing under surface to the painting.

As a side note, many of the paintings that have survived the best from previous centuries are painted on wood panels. So perhaps that also speaks to a good painting practice, though I feel these days with proper care, both supports hold up pretty well.