Defining the background first

11

In this painting and in many of my other works, I tend to build up visual interest in the environment before jumping in and detailing the main characters. I like to explore a bit more of the world they live in, but I also like to give them a background that makes them stand out as subjects and gives them a clear silhouette. At this point I tend to play around with different brushes, so that I can achieve plenty of variation in the textures and surfaces.