Above is a closeup from my most recent oil painting. The complete work measures 20in. by 16in. It was done on a simple canvas panel.

The initial sketch was done directly on the canvas with charcoal and a stub of sepia chalk. Since I was just playing around, anything more complicated than this would have been overkill. With the drawing complete, I clamped the panel into the easel at an angle so that the excess oil in the wash used to block out the background dripped in my preferred direction.

After allowing this to dry overnight, I reoriented the canvas and covered the drawing with a rough sketch/underpainting.

Next, I made a wash of linseed oil and gold pigment, and splattered this all over the figures. This wash was brushed on perpendicular to the direction of the background wash's drip-texture, and allowed to run freely down the figures for several hours.

During this time, I used a knife and some titanium white, lemon yellow, cerulean blue, and raw umber to create a more grass-like background.

After a bunch more fiddly work with translucent washes, then stabbing clumsily at the canvas with a little flat bristle brush and various bits of whatever excess paint was on my palette, I ended up with this:

Hope you enjoyed seeing it as much as I enjoyed painting it!!!

Relaxing in a field: my latest oil painting with process documentation. Probably NSFW