Fragmented Blue Peacock

Today I've included some of my preliminary 'scribbles' from my sketch book and some photos of the process of creating the panel from scratch this time using my own hand made paper.

sketchbook page with ideas for this panel on top left of page, plus other sari panels

some early ideas which were incorporated in my first Blue Peacock Panel

The 'fragment' piece of hand made paper, shown here panel pinned to a board with a plastic cover.
I can now work on the panel in oils after priming it with pva/water mix coat.

Here I am working out the placement of the various  elements of the panel, using
drawn paper shapes which I've created from sketches and which are
to scale with the final piece. The paper 'fragment' has been given a base coat of oil paint
in Prussian Blue and Ultramarine, using Winsor & Newton paints.

I've now put all the main details and elements  in, using gold paint, French Ultramarine
Prussian Blue, Cerulean, alarazine Crimson etc. Now it needs to dry before I work on
final details.

This piece has been 'gestating' for months now, and one morning I managed to not only start it but also almost complete it! All thanks to the visit of another artist Charron, we talked so much we actually got masses accomplished, now that's rare.