ABSTRACT
Having tuned in to your subject and decided what it is you wish to convey in your painting, the next
stage is to set up your ground color and then create a muck up under-painting on which you will add
selective detail. What I share here is just one of many approaches to making art. There is no best
approach, only different approaches. Another approach is to initially map out your composition care-
fully and precisely using guidelines and light pencil work and then to fill in tonal blocks and add color
and detail. My approach is to start rough and messy and then selectively introduce detail and preci-
sion into the mess. Muck up is an English term meaning to “make a mess of something.” It sums up
the spirit of this initial stage of my painting process, which is about letting go of attachment to per-
fection and detail. The ‘muck up’ stage is not aimless chaos but purposeful mess. This is where the
tuning in preparation plays an important role. Your tuning in shapes how the ‘muck up’ unfolds.
