A painting might offer a completely different experience depending on the distance from the actual surface. A constant challenge for me has been to make my works interesting to explore for those who dare to take a few steps closer. I work with a number of techniques in order to get structure and the desired cracked varnish, reminiscent of old masters work.  To be honest, I treat my works in a very rough manner throughout the process. The are constantly subject to distressing, catching, sanding and general damage sustained from being tossed around the studio.

I even put some bits of tape (although the  acid free type) in between the last couple of layers. I often get questions about this, and will not offer any deep intellectual answer; it just looks correct to me.

However, the most frequent question I get is of a more technical kind and concerns the craquelure. How do I do this? Well, there are probably many ways to achieve this certain effect. I use a special two step varnish by LeFranc & Bourgeois. In fact, I constantly drain my supplier i Oslo of the entire stock. It takes a bit of training to get around it, as it has kind of a life of it’s own, but even when things go terribly wrong, there might be som great effects worth keeping. Although the painting itself is made in acrylic, the last touch of white clouds and mist is obtained by applying diluted white oil color (mixed with terps and a generous helping of liquin, a special drying medium) adding this on top of the cracking varnish.

 

Most details are cut in masking tape and applied in a thick layer of acrylic.

Impossible to control, yet very attractive when everything goes as planned.

“Frå Haukeli”Acryllic and oil on canvas 170×125 cm.