Works by David Hardy
"There is something one notices right away about my studio painting procedure. I place my painting on my easel near my subject, choosing to view it from a spot some distance away. Then I proceed to walk to my easel to apply each stroke of paint, back and forth. Friends have jokingly suggested I should measure the total distance walked when completing each picture and charge by the mile!
All this walking while painting is not an idea I originated. It was used by many of the Master artists of the past, among them Caravaggio, Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Diego de Velasquez, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and John Singer Sargent. It helps me to develop a painting as a single, vibrant unit.
I use a gradual building up of paint, a process called Layered Painting. Areas in the light are built up with layers of opaque oil thinned with glaze medium until it becomes translucent. Shadows are layered on in thin, overlapping transparent glazes. Each layer must dry before applying another, requiring patience and time.
I go to all this trouble because it enables me to create marvelous visual effects with a subtlety not possible in any other way. It's like being given a special wand and becoming a magician.”