Clouds Over Prairie Road

Clouds Over Prairie Road
Oil on canvas panel, 7x5

Getting wood panels primed for painting surfaces is a big job.  As a daily painter, I am in constant need of substrates!  After getting about 60 panels cut at my local Lowe’s store, today I started preparing them.  First, I sand all the edges - which are a little rough after been cut.  I prefer to do this outside, as I don’t want to inhale all that dust, nor do I want the mess int he house.  Next, I mix up gesso, acrylic paint to tint, some gel medium gloss and a bit of sanding grout.  Mixing this completely, I slap it on with a large putty knife, brushing out the marks with a 2 inch synthetic brush in a cross hatch fashion.  Once this dries, I again brush over the surfaces with gel medium tinted slightly with a pumpkin orange.  I like this color for summer, but sometimes I go with a Monet yellow - which is what is underneath in this case.  Once dry, I have surfaces that readily accept the paint, and the addition of gel gloss at the end makes the surface kinder to my brushes, and they don’t wear down so quickly.  I finished most of them - maybe 10 need the second coat, and 2 didn’t get prepped at all.  Oh well, I’ll have to catch them with the next batch.  This painting makes 971 in 971 days.