I have been keeping a visual diary of this commission for anyone interested in the journey from bare board to finished piece. I start by preparing m.d.f. panel of size required by sanding and priming. Why mdf? because it is a reliable sub-strait on which to apply layers of gesso, wood moves too much.
These drawings are my first tools, and I use the working sketches as guides for the panels, of which there will be 2,
4′ x 2′ each. Once the panels are drawn out, I can start to apply gesso to create the textures and the layers. It is a slow build up, allowing for each layer to solidify and dry out before moving on.