Ben East
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Who here is interested in following a process thread of a new commission I’m working on? A #PaintalongaBen if you will?
Tough. I’m doing it anyway. Follow the comments for progress.
Step 1: prime a plywood frame with texture paste. This is going to hang in a pizza shop, so needs to be hardy. #art
05:55 PM - Mar 02, 2023
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Ben East
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In response to Ben East.
Step two. Grid the board as a guide and rough out the foundation sketch in pencil. Timed this stage. Took about 1 1/2 hours.

I don’t like to get too fussy with the sketch: it needs to be accurate or the likeness will be off, but it’s mostly just for marking light & shade.
05:58 PM - Mar 02, 2023
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Ben East
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In response to Ben East.
3) Apply a thin acrylic ground wash- in this case yellow ochre, burnt sienna, burnt umber, touch of red. Helps to give warmth to the final painting. Wipe down highlighted areas with a bit of paper towel. #SpoutArt #PaintalongaBen
06:01 PM - Mar 02, 2023
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Ben East
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4)Start mixing colour strings to block in the background. Goopy white stuff is glazing medium- replicates the properties of oil paint in acrylics. Yes, that’s a Wagamama pot for a palette. I like to recycle & the lids keep the paint wet longer.
See how the textures & ground colour peep through?
In response to Ben East.
02:14 AM - Mar 03, 2023
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Ben East
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In response to Ben East.
#PaintalongaBen 5) Carry on blocking in and refining the basic background colours, masking off where necessary, cuz who has time to paint straight lines?!
I always paint the background before the figure. Keys in the colours so skin tones don’t look off, & much more fiddly to paint figure first.
12:01 PM - Mar 03, 2023
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Ben East
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In response to Ben East.
#PaintalongaBen 6) BIG jump today: I blocked in the main contours & features of the clothing. It’s a long job but best way to tackle it I’ve found is to treat each new food as its own abstract painting so you don’t get lost in the global jigsaw puzzle. Needs tidying & detail still, but: skin next!
03:05 PM - Mar 04, 2023
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