In the beginning...

In my last post I was ready to launch into experimenting with Genesis, and I just had my first attempt at using them. On the whole... wow.  They could be very, very useful.

They do feel a lot like oils, and have that nice glossy oil finish when they dry - the texture takes a bit of getting used to at first, because they come out of the pot like clay, but if you work them with a palette knife for 15 seconds or so, they go very buttery and seem to stay that way. If you left them for a long time, you'd just need to rework them a bit if they went stiff.

First of all I used the 5 colours from my starter pack to mix a few of the colours listed on the very helpful little recipe sheet that Genesis provided - got shades close to Payne's Gray, Light cadmium,  etc.

Then I experimented on a little cheap pad of primed canvas that I've had lying around for ages.  What started as random blocks of colour turned into a strange little seascape with annoyingly puffy clouds. The whole thing measures about 15x12 cm, and took less than half an hour. I did it in 5 layers, drying each with the hot air gun in between. It was SO fast - the paint dries instantly as soon as it reaches the right heat and once it's dry nothing will shift it off the canvas, short of a blade.  I think these paints will make a big difference to turnaround time when I'm working on a book deadline. And all the colours I mixed are still sitting patiently on my palette, waiting for me. And they will never dry, until I tell them to! Oh, the giddy power of it all!

I've taken some process photos of the different layers, so you can see the progress of this little sketch. Give the animation a chance to load...

(PS: I'm also posting this for Illustration Friday because the topic is "Modify", and this is me trying to modify my technique. I know, I know, it's cheating...)