Moses picture – first layer

This is a quick shot of the Moses picture as it’s been developing. Drawn in pencil onto primed and stretched canvas, in this case measuring 70x50cm, the first layer of colour is being applied. For speed I use a kind of painting-by-numbers technique – covering the whole surface bit by bit, but for this to work you need to make a very accurate drawing first. I normally spend quite some time getting the underdrawing right. I draw in pencil, then seal it with a thin layer of gesso so the pencil graphite doesn’t smudge with the first layer of paint. I’m using tube acrylic paint by Talens (Amsterdam) and a lot of jars of the cheaper acrylics.