I paint exclusively in oils at present. I have tried acrylics and watercolor, but find that neither is forgiving enough for my painting style. I prefer the long drying time of oils, which enables me to go back and forth within the painting before the paint has time to dry.

I paint using several different techniques, depending on what I want the finished work to look like. The two main techniques or applications of paint that I use are glaze painting and direct painting. In glaze painting, the work has a monochromatic underpainting that determines the completed work's values—lights and darks. After this step, the painting is completely rendered and dried. It is given color with the addition of transparent colors over the monochromatic rendering. The transparent layers are laid on top of one another until the desired hue is reached. In the direct painting process there is no underpainting. There is a quick sketch, and the work is painted in using mostly opaque colors that represent the desired hues and values of the finished work. I will often go back in after the painting has been blocked in to apply transparent layers where needed, in order to build up different areas push and pull different areas of the painting and result in a more believable illusion of depth.

I know a lot of painters are great draftsman; I am not one of them, in the traditional sense. I do most of my layout and sketching on a computer. Some may argue that this is not a legitimate means of creating a composition. To those individuals, I say pick up a history book. What I mean by this is that artists have been exploiting, if not creating, the latest technological advancements for art since time began: for instance, Thomas Eakins's use of the photograph for his art in the late nineteenth century. In short, I am just following in their footsteps and following the wisdom they left behind.

All images © David James Eichenberg, 2009