If you haven’t heard yet, I’ve been commissioned to paint a large scale painting of my interpretation of the Last Supper. After running the sketch by the client, I made some color studies, built, stretched and prepared the 11′ x 5.5′ canvas, and spent a few hours the other night transferring the drawing.
After rearranging my studio space, I hung the painting on the wall and sat back and heard the question most commonly asked at this stage of painting: ‘Where do you begin?’ This is one of the silliest questions painters have to answer, as you just pick a color and start. The longer you wait, second guess yourself, or otherwise procrastinate, you’re simply losing time and most likely energy as well.
So I began:
And at the end of the first day of painting, had a mostly roughed in underpainting waiting for me to return in the morning. That’s when the sketch really becomes a painting and when the real work will kick in, when I start redrawing into the painting and clean up a lot of the rough edges from the transfer process.
So simple large blocks of color and a few key lines are how a sketch slowly becomes a painting. Stay tuned for more updates on this giant project!