OIL PAINTING MEDIC

The solar eclipse of 12 August 2026 promises to be one of the most striking astronomical events visible from the UK, occurring around 7pm and offering dramatic sky colour at sunset. This second eclipse‑inspired oil painting explores a personified moon almost eclipsing the sun, with the solar corona streaming into the distance . Below, I share the full process—composition, underpainting, colour mixing, and celestial lighting techniques—to help artists create their own cosmic oil paintings . Read my article on how I completed my first of this pair of eclipse paintings, showing a face in profile on the moon . Planning the Composition: Drawing the Eclipse Discs I began by drawing around a large dinner plate placed near the centre of the panel to represent the moon. A second disc, slightly offset, marks the sun positioned behind it. This simple geometric foundation helps establish the eclipse alignment. The painting is executed on a 24×24 inch primed panel , giving a square format...

  Concept and Composition: Painting the Moon as a Personified Figure To establish the focal point, I began with reference images showing strong side‑lighting on a human face . This dramatic chiaroscuro effect represents the moon personified—a symbolic “woman on the moon” —and helps anchor the celestial theme in figurative realism. Read my article on how I completed my first of this eclipse painting pair, showing a full view face on the moon eclipsing the sun . Using a large dinner plate as a template, I drew the eclipse spheres slightly right of centre. This off‑centre placement creates visual tension and leaves space for the solar corona and plasma flares extending outward. I sketched the composition onto a 20×24 inch primed panel , using dark brown acrylic applied with a fine sable brush. This underdrawing establishes the structure before the heavier oil layers. Tonal Contrasts: Capturing the Corona & Atmospheric Glow To build the dramatic eclipse contrast, I bloc...

  An art exhibition for toddlers and young children runs from 17 November 2023 to 18 March 2024.   This exhibition shows oil paintings from Rachel Shirley’s children’s books: Katie’s Magic Teapot and the Cosmic Pandas Katie and the Pandas’ Deep Sea Voyage And Ben’s Little Big Adventure . Art Exhibition for Toddlers The exhibition consists of oil paintings from my three children’s books. The aim of this exhibition is to introduce children from toddler age to art galleries. The paintings show a child of three learning about the world from her flying teapot. Another book describes a little boy’s quest for a midnight snack. The aim of this exhibition is to bring young children to exhibitions. Without realising, clues to my own toddlerhood have eked into these paintings. Andy Pandy and Teddy of My Toddlerhood The ‘panda’ come from Andy Pandy , a BBC children’s programme I would have watched in toddlerhood. This is due to the sound-echo. A teddy bear, and r...

 Craquelure are fine hairline cracks that appear in an old oil painting. Some art restorers may not decide to treat it, for is the normal process of ageing and adds charm to the appearance of the artwork. This old oil landscape painting shows cracks in the paint layer called craquelure. This is caused by the aging process of the oil paint that has dried out over time. The proper preparation of gesso will minimize the appearance of these cracks. A close up of this painting showing craquelure. Image right shows distortion in the canvas due to botched restoration. Masking tape had been stuck onto the back of the canvas to hide a hole. Sadly, the resultant stresses in the canvas have exacerbated the cracks. Any restoration work would now require extra care. The image shows the painting after I had removed the offending masking tape and repaired the holes in the canvas. I had also tensioned the resultant flabbiness in the canvas by adjusting canvas keys in the back of the painting. My o...

 This oil painting had undergone a botched attempt to hide a hole in the canvas. This old master had masking tape stuck to the back, and as a result, had warped the shape of the canvas, spoiling the look of the oil painting. And old master landscape painting by Willis Pryce. As can be seen, this oil painting by Willis Pryce looks okay when viewed head-on under even light. But view it from the side, and the warp becomes noticeable. The closeup shows a hole in the canvas. Warped canvas caused by masking tape on the back of the painting. Notice also the cracks in the oil paint layer. This is called craquelure and can be an appealing feature of an old oil painting. The old canvas is indicative, for the cracks follow the stresses of the canvas beneath. Sadly, I would soon discover, the oil painting hadn’t been prepared properly, for no primer had been applied beneath the oil paint. An oil painting requires gesso primer prior to applying the oil paint. A bare canvas or wooden panel will...

The canvas of this old master oil painting has been torn. How does the art restorer hide damage to an oil painting? This article shows how to completely hide a tear. The images show the tear in an old master oil painting completed previously. Lower images show the tear from the back. Image bottom right shows the tear repaired. But the tear remains invisible and requires touching-up with oil paint. As can be seen, before applying paint to a damaged oil painting, the canvas must be repaired and the surface stable. My previous article shows how I repaired a tear in this canvas . Touching up a Tear The painting has been repaired (see my other article on how to repair a torn canvas ), but the damage remains visible as a scar. How does the art restorer completely hide the scar? Materials required for this project are: Brushes : A selection of fine sables, from 3 to 6. A soft flat (3-6) is good for blending. Rounds are good for getting into detail. Acrylic paint or artist gesso : The standard...