Layering and Masking – Examples and techniques explained.
John says:
These three paintings represent a technique I’ve been playing with for about two years now. The technique involves masking off areas, applying a wash and repeating as necessary. The number of layers determines how detailed it can become. More layers provide more detail, but each additional layer degrades the freshness. Keeping the number of layers to a minimum forces me to find the shapes that best represent what I’m trying to convey.
“Folders”
“Street Music” was probably my first single layer (only one layer of mask). “Underwood” is a more recent 3-layer piece.
“Street Music”
“Underwood”
Cindy says:
“Folders” was the first painting that uses what John calls ‘Mac’s Gray’. It is his own mix of pigments and is included in his color wheel and palette. They called him ‘Mac’ in the Navy, and it stuck.
Find tips on making neutral tones on John’s Blog, “Many Ways to Gray“.
