The earliest painting in the gallery, "Going to Feed the Chooks," was painted from memory. It's a picture of my Dad on the farm where I grew up. All except four of the rest were painted from life on site. The exceptions are: "Long Reef Headland," "Rainy Campbell Street," "Paragliders at Cloud-Base" and "Paragliders Forming a Gaggle," which were created using original paintings or drawings completed on site at an earlier time plus remembered observations and a little imagination.

  Paintings generally take from two to eight days to complete, depending on size and detail. On the first day, after finding a suitable scene and deciding on which aspect to paint, I make a detailed pencil drawing on paper. This helps me look closely at all the features and details, allows me to concentrate entirely on line, shape, form, perspective and proportion, so that I can hopefully get the drawing right first. It also gives a reference for transferring the basic shapes to the painting surface and allows me to concentrate fully on tone and colour relationships once I start painting.

  The next step is to map out the basic drawing on the painting surface then block in the main colour and tonal areas. Once the whole area is blocked in, I use the remaining time to observe and make notes on colour, tone, details and highlights to be used in the final stage of execution. I usually let this layer dry for several days before continuing. This is to prevent the next layer from mixing colours with the first.

  When the blocked in area is partially dry, I set up at the site once more. I begin refining the blocked in areas to smaller sub-areas of tone and colour and start adding basic detail, which usually takes two days or more. I usually allow some drying time before the final stage of adding fine details and colour/tone highlights. I complete this final phase either by returning to the site another day or by working at home, referring to the original drawings and notes that I made.

  To see an action replay of a painting being created go to The Painting Process page.

  I hope you enjoy viewing my paintings,

Barney Miller