Now that I have committed to the concept of the Flying Tiger's Painting, It's time to prep the canvas. After stretching the canvas I gessoed it three times, took it outside and toned it. The colors I chose to tone it were based on the fact the overall harmony of the painting would be gray green. I wanted a contrast of complementary colors, thus I chose an brownish orange tone for the underpainting. This tone would be allowed to show through in certain areas throughout the painting and activate the eye of the viewer, making it "Pop". It's all about contrast.
This photo shows me with my mask on, outside my studio, doing the toning. I am mixing the color with Damar Varnish. The Damar Varnish seals the surface of the canvas, making it less absorbent, and so the oil paints sit on top of the canvas, not get soaked in. After about a minute, the toned varnish is completely dry to touch, and will remain that way until it is touched by another oil based medium. When that happens, it becomes wet again, and starts to dry that next layer or wash.
One wants the oil painting to dry from the surface of the canvas outward; and this technique insures that process. After this process, I hung the painting by pulleys inside my studio. Next, the sketch is done on the canvas and I start working on the painting; massing it in from dark to light, and thin layers to thick layers.
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