Step by Step: Attack your image in layers

1 Pencilling an underdrawing

I start my pencil drawing in red Col-Erase. It’s helpful to rough things in with a coloured line first, as errors and changes are easier to camouflage in the finished drawing than in graphite. I switch to mechanical pencils for final rendering, working on top of my rough sketch.

2 Adding a wash

I paint over a print of my pencil drawing on tinted paper, wet-stretched to avoid buckling. I start with an overall wash of (red) watercolour before switching to small brushes to ink the drawing. Once dry, I use white charcoal pencils to sculpt the forms and add highlights and details.

3 Finishing in oils

I seal my underpainting with matte medium (sprayed on to avoid smudging) and finish with two stages of oil paint: a base layer in a complementary colour (greenish teal) and, once dry, a final pass with transparent hues. Opaque highlights can be painted into the final glazes.