Where did you get the inspiration for this piece?
The inspiration for ‘The Moon and the Stag’ started by reading about the White Hart , one of the things I read was it was seen to be a symbol of renewal and rebirth, this struck a chord with me after the last few years of loss and illness.
The feeling I was after with this was that of a twilight world between the real and spiritual. These colours always make me think of a dream like feel and the moon always suggests the passing of time within my works.
What is your creative process when creating this piece?
I always work on primed MDF because I prefer to work on a smooth surface, this is primed three times and sanded. This piece was created in oils and for this I only used three colours, blue, yellow ochre and white.
I paint in a very smooth way, and the paint is built up in layers, allowing them to dry between sessions and getting more refined as it progresses. I used old Holland oils for this as the colour of their blue is so intense and mixes beautifully with the white. I use synthetic brushes which are quite soft and perfect for blending .
How long would this work have taken you?
The painting took about 20 hours to complete but that was over a longer period of time due to drying time’s in between.
Here are a couple of unflattering photos, I work in a shed at the bottom of our garden so well wrapped up , but at least my hair has grown back!
Artist: Mark Duffin
