Wildlife Oil Paintings

My wildlife work has been taken ever so slightly further this month as I have taken on even finer detail and chosen to practice embellishments with gold leaf.

I am a true magpie with shiny and glittery things, and so when I read up on gilding my work I was very enthused to try it out. I am obsessed with embellishing my work with tiny and minute detailing in contrast with sweeping brush strokes and bold marks. I ordered the booklets of gold leaf online after researching how to apply them, especially to paintings! It is a small touch I will be applying to certain pieces where I crave that opulence and richness of detail and colour. It may take a while to master the scalpel and application, it is a lot thinner than I imagined! It can barely be felt between my fingers, it is so incredibly fine that as I pulled a leaf out of the booklet to look, my fan heater sent it whirling around my room. (Which I have to admit, looked really pretty..)

In considering the finer details and how to constantly be improving, iv been working with an incredibly fine brush to hone in on my steady hand skills. I am so used to throwing paint around and deliberately making as bold a mark as possible that the more intricate details can be a challenge. Painting seems to be a constant learning curve, I will be happy if I never master it completely but as long as it stays as fun as this I can’t imagine myself ever stopping…

Katy x